Composed just over 100 years ago, Prokofiev's masterpiece, with whose production Hendrik Müller introduces himself as the new opera director, is now conquering the stages of the Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landestheater for the first time.
There is great excitement in the theater: tragedy and comedy are arguing passionately about which stage genre is the only true one. Of course, lyrical drama and the representatives of comedy also want to have their say. The fairytale play "The Love for Three Oranges" is supposed to decide. It tells of the sad fate of a prince who never laughs and the tragic twist in which he finally bursts out laughing - fatally, at the misfortune of an evil sorceress. She curses him to fall madly in love with three oranges. In the end, everything turns out well, as the oranges conceal three enchanted princesses, at least one of whom the prince is able to save with the help of many other fantastic characters.
With a ludicrous, oscillating play about fairy tales and masks, kings and cooks, princesses and rats, with a large portion of love and an even larger portion of laughter, everything that good theater has to offer is served up - happy endings included, of course.
Carlo Gozzi's almost surrealistic text inspired Prokofiev to create a grandiose fusion of fairy tale, magic, ironic comedy and wicked satire, a sharp-witted play between commedia dell'arte and contemporary political commentary.
Premiere October 5, 2024
