Betrothal in a Monastery was Sergei Prokofiev’s sixth opera with an opus number. The libretto, in Russian, was by the composer and Mira Mendelson, after Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s ballad opera libretto for Thomas Linley the younger’s The Duenna.
Prokofiev began the work in 1940, and it was in rehearsal that year, but World War II halted production of the opera. The first performance did not occur until 3 November 1946, at the Kirov Theatre with Boris Khaikin conducting.
Commentators have noted that this opera lacks any particular political or social comment, except for the scene with the drunken monks, given the context of its creation in the 1940’s in the Soviet Union.
In recent years, the opera has been performed in 1989 at the Wexford Festival and in 2006 at Glyndebourne.
Don Jerome intends his daughter Louisa to marry the wealthy fish merchant Mendoza. However, she loves instead Antonio, who is poor, though noble in spirit. Furthermore, Don Ferdinand, son of Don Jerome and prone to fits of jealousy, wants to marry Clara d’Almanza, who is a virtual prisoner of her stepmother.
In Act III, Mendoza and Don Carlos unintentionally help Louisa elope with Antonio. Don Jerome is tricked into composing a letter that gives his permission for Louisa to marry Antonio. In a fit of jealousy, Don Ferdinand chases after Louisa and Antonio, after he mistakes Louisa for Clara.
Act IV opens with a drinking song for the monks in the monastery where the marriages are to be performed. The monks then switch to a hymn that extols fasting and abstinence, to a tune that is a slower variant of the earlier drinking song. Finally, Louisa and Antonio are united, as are Don Ferdinand and Clara. In addition, Mendoza ends up marrying Louisa’s duenna.
Music | Sergei Prokofiev |
Libretto | Sergei Prokofiev and Mira Mendelssohn-Prokofieva |
Music Director and Conductor |
Alexander Lazarev |
Stage Director |
Alexander Titel
Lyudmila Naletova
|
Scenic Movement Director and Choreographer |
Irina Lychagina |
Set Designer | Vladimir Arefiev |
Costume Designer | Vladimir Arefiev |
Lighting Designer | Ildar Bederdinov |
Principal Chorus Master |
Stanislav Lykov |
World premiere: November 3, 1946
Kirov Opera, Leningrad (St. Petersburg)
Premiere at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko
Moscow Music Academic Theatre: December 28, 1959
Premiere of this production: September 21, 2000
Premiere of the new version: October 7, 2017
Music Director and Conductor |
Alexander Lazarev
|
Don Jerome |
Valery Mikitsky
Roman Muravitsky
|
Ferdinand |
Petr Sokolov
Dmitry Zuev
|
Louisa |
Lilia Gaisina
Inna Klochko
Maria Makeeva
|
Duenna |
Elena Manistina
Natalia Zimina
|
Antonio |
Vladimir Dmitruk
Alexander Nesterenko
|
Clara |
Larisa Andreeva
Irina Vashchenko
|
Mendoza |
Denis Makarov
Roman Ulybin
|
Don Carlos |
Andrey Baturkin
Evgeny Polikanin
|
Padre Augustin |
Kirill Kapachinskikh
Felix Kudryavtsev
Vladimir Svistov
|
Casts & Credits
- Home
- |
- Tours
- |
- Day tours
- |
- Rail tours
- |
- Shore excursions
- |
- My trip
- |
- About
Group Tour Packages
Company Information
US office
3422 Old Capitol Trail Suite 1252,
Wilmington DE, 19808 USA.
US toll-free: 1-888-845-8877
Russian office
Ligovsky pr. 57, Office 19,
191040, St. Petersburg, Russia
tel: +7-812-309-5339
© 2001 – 2024 by Northern Crown, Ltd. uVisitRussia and uVisitRussia.com are registered trademarks. Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy
Why Do You Need Our Travel Expert
Contact our experts, and they will help you to plan your best trip to Russia, with attention to every detail!
Our Experts have been in the travel industry for many years, guarantee to offer first class customer service, excellent value for money and unbiased advice. They are standing by to find and build your dream holiday to one of the world's most fascinating destinations - Russia.
Your personal Travel Expert will guide you through each stage of the travel process, from choosing a program that fits you best to support during your trip.
Just tell us your e-mail, and we'll take care of everything!
Ask a Travel Expert
Leave your phone number
Your tour request has been received. Thank you !
We have sent you the confirmation message to [email]
Please make sure that you receive this message (sometimes e-mail messages may go to the spam/junk mail).
If you did not get this message, it means you will not get message with the tours' selection as well. If you use a Yahoo!, Gmail, AOL or Hotmail, we recommend to add request@uvisitrussia.com to your address book.
We recommend to leave your phone number. If we will not heard back that you received the e-mail with the tours' selection, we will contact you by phone.
And you will not miss the best tour for you.
Thank you ! Your request for Travel Expert assistance has been sent. We will e-mail you within 1 hour.