Prokofiev's Betrothal in a Monastery

The support group for opera addicts is in session! Its participants perform Prokofiev's Betrothal in a Monastery. Rarely performed outside its country of origin, Russia, and consigned to oblivion by Andrei Zhdanov's anti-formalist policies after the Second World War, the work is transformed by Dmitri Tcherniakov's extravagant staging. Under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, Aida Garifullina and Violeta Urmana bring the characters to life on stage at Berlin's Staatsoper Unter den Linden.

Adapted from a London ballad opera entitled The Duenna by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Prokofiev takes up the Western comic tradition to offer a satire of its society, in keeping with the Soviet anticlerical tradition advocated by Stalin. Mendoza is loved by Louisa's governess. Louisa loves Antonio, but is promised to Mendoza. Louisa's brother Ferdinand loves Clara, but he has insulted her, and she decides to become a nun. Through clever disguises and identity swaps, the young people finally succeed in thwarting their destiny, and must show their ingenuity if their love is to triumph. In Tcherniakov's staging, two levels of narration intertwine, as new characters, the members of the healing group, take on the roles from Betrothal in a Monastery. Through this pastiche of the operatic world, the Russian director transforms this environment and gives it a new discursive dimension.