Opera "Player": content, video, interesting facts, history

S. Prokofiev Opera "Player"

History does not know the subjunctive mood. How fate would be Sergey Prokofiev, have time opera "Player" appear on the stage of the Imperial Mariinsky Theater in 1917? How would the fate of the opera itself? The first major work of the Soviet genius became known many years after its creation, slowly but surely finding its way to world scenes.

Summary of the Prokofiev Opera "Player"and many interesting facts about this work read on our page.

Summary of "Player"

Belgium, the fictional town of Roulettenburg, mid 1860s.

The general, who came to the waters with the children, Polina and Alexey, came under the influence of the swindler Mademoiselle Blanche and not only let go of all his fortunes on the tape, but also remained in debt with the Marquis. Polina asked Alexey to lay her diamonds and try to win at the casino with this money, but the idea failed. The only way left is the quick death of a rich grandmother, whose heir is the General. Meanwhile, Babulenka does not even think of dying; instead, she comes to Roulettenburg and refuses the General in money. Out of curiosity, an elderly lady peeks into a casino, where she loses almost everything she had.

General inclines stepdaughter to marry with the Marquis. Alexey, in love with a girl, promises to help her. He wins a large sum, but the excitement so captured him that, after returning from the casino, he did not even immediately notice Polina. She understands that an enthusiastic player is in front of her - the same as her stepfather, that Alexei was attracted by the roulette itself, and the noble goal was just a pretext. He gives Polina money, but she throws it in his face. Alexey is hurt by her contempt, but with his thoughts again at the gambling table - this passion turns out to be stronger.

A photo

Interesting Facts

• When creating a libretto Prokofiev relied on the find Mussorgsky for the unfinished opera "Marriage", which used the original text by N.V. Gogol and found a new musical language in the natural sound of human speech. The "Player" libretto contains entire layers of dialogues from the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky.
• Today "The Player" is not the most popular opera by Prokofiev. In different countries of the world it is performed a little more than 30 times a year.
• The production of T. Chkheidze for the Mariinsky Theater has a video version. V. Galuzin (Alexey), T. Pavlovskaya (Polina), S. Aleksashkin (General), L. Dyadkova (Babulenka) took part in it. Behind the conductor's console - V. Gergiev.
• In 1966, the director Y. Bogatyrenko directed the film-opera "The Player". V. Babyatinsky (sang V. Makhov) acted in the role of Aleksey, A. Evdokimova in the role of Polina (sang by I. Polyakova). In the picture sounds the orchestra conducted by G. Rozhdestvensky.
• "Player" does not have the usual arias and duets, having a through action and declamatory dialogues.
• In 1931, Prokofiev wrote a symphonic suite based on opera music.
• Often confused opera "Player" and "Players." In addition to the names, they have a lot in common. The authors are Soviet composers, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. The libretto is based on the classics of Russian literature, works of the same name by Dostoevsky and Gogol.

The history of the creation and productions of "Player"

By 1914, not a single opera in Dostoevsky’s plot had appeared in Russia. Young composer Sergey Prokofiev long thought that the novel "The Player" could be shifted to music. Everything has its time and, finally, it is Prokofiev who receives the proposal for the creation of an opera from the main conductor of the Mariinsky Theater, Albert Coats. And not just a sentence, he was literally said: "all that you write - we put." This happened after a triumphant performance on the stage of the imperial theater of his "Scythian Suite" on January 16, 1916. For a 24 year old composer, this would be a grand debut. And he had something to show - the libretto and part of the music of the “Player” he had already finished.

In April, Prokofiev presented his opera to the court of V. Telyakovsky, director of the imperial theaters, conductors and head of the Mariinsky Opera Company. The composer at the piano sang the whole "Player". Telyakovsky evasively replied, they say, it will be necessary to give the singers and the orchestra material, to see how it goes ... But the audacious Prokofiev said that he already has an agreement with Dyagilev, and if he does not immediately receive a response from the Mariinsky Theater, he will give him the right to opera. It was a bluff - Prokofiev, indeed, several years ago suggested to the impresario this plot, but he didn’t get interested in it, preferring to bet the ballets. However, the composer knew that the successful competitor Dyagilev - like a bone in the throat of the imperial theaters, so he immediately got what he wanted - the production of the “Player” on the Mariinsky stage was approved in the 1916/17 season. A month later, Prokofiev signed a contract.

Since October, began rehearsals. The composition was selected first-class - Ivan Alachevsky and Ivan Ershov for the game of Alexey, Elizaveta Popova and Marianna Cherkasskaya for the game of Polina. In January 1917, the instrumentation was completed, the orchestra began to work with the score. The director and set designer were N. Bogolyubov and P. Lambin, but Coates, who was extremely interested in "Player", insisted on replacing the production team. Soon, V. Meyerhold and A. Golovin took charge of the future performance. This famous tandem was produced by Lermontov's Masquerade at the Alexandrinsky Theater, after which he was supposed to take on Prokofiev’s opera. But the February revolution intervened - theaters ceased to be imperial, at the same time ceasing to receive money from the state for new performances. Prokofiev broke the contract with the theater, but the score of the opera remained in the archives of the Mariinsky Theater, the composer went into exile without her.

The “Player”, however, was not forgotten either in Soviet Russia or abroad. Here, V. Meyerhold repeatedly attempted to resume work on the opera, offering it in the early 1920s to the Bolshoi Theater, and in the end to Akoper (this was the name for the Mariinsky Theater). Overseas, the "Player" was interested in Chicago, but Prokofiev did not have a score or clavier. When the composer in 1927 arrived on tour in the USSR, he took notes from the library of Akoper and, returning to Paris, began the second edition of the opera, and in fact - for its complete remake. He, inspired by the warm welcome at home, hoped that the premiere would be held in Leningrad. But the former Mariinka had been postponing all the time - Meyerhold had almost received agreement to be staged when members of the Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians opposed Prokofiev’s works. Even the Leningrad MALEGOT, which was a platform for contemporary art, did not take the opera into the production plan.

But the main issue was not an ideological, but a financial issue: the rights to the second version of the “Player” were owned by the Parisian “Russian Music Publishing House”, which demanded payment in dollars for the use of opera. The USSR currency reserves were small and were designed only for the essentials - Prokofiev's essay was not on this list. The composer did not continue to hold a reservation for the production of Meyerhold and gave the opera to another contender - the La Monnet Theater in Brussels. The Belgians quickly translated the libretto into French, and on April 29, 1929 the premiere of "Le Joueur" was held. The audience took the performance well, the author was also pleased with it. The “Player” kept on in the La Monna repertoire for two more seasons, but other theaters didn’t have much interest in him, which was completely extinguished after Prokofiev returned to the USSR.

After the Second World War, the opera was in Italy, Germany, Poland, Yugoslavia. In 1957, the "Player" sounded in the United States - to the accompaniment of two pianos. In Russian, they sang it only in 1963, in concert performance. In 1974, the opera was staged by the Bolshoi Theater, showing it a year later on tour in New York. And in 2001, the audience of the main stage of the country met with the first edition of the “Player”. At the same time, a full-fledged American premiere took place - the production of T. Chkheidze from the Mariinsky Theater was moved to the Metropolitan Opera. The same performance from 2017 goes on the Mariinsky Stage in Vladivostok.

75 years it took "To the player" Prokofievto be heard in the Mariinsky Theater. But since 1991, the opera has always been in his repertoire - as a symbol of the restoration of historical justice in the name of art.