Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Trailer: Die Verlobung im Kloster

“It’s like champagne! From this, I could make an opera in the style of Mozart or Rossini!” When Sergei Prokofiev became acquainted with the subject of a comedy of errors from the late 18th century in the spring of 1940, he was immediately inspired to turn it into a stage work: “The fine humour, enchanting lyricism, incisive characterisation of the figures, the dynamics of the plot, the suspenseful structure, in which the audience waits for every twist and turn with interest and impatience”, were what attracted him to it.
His concise, witty and charming music testifies to the inspiration he received from this material. Several couples who, after many confusions and entanglements, finally find each other, and deceptive manipulators, who get caught in their own nooses, offer much comedic potential which Prokofiev fully exploits – in the form of an opera full of lyricism and theatricality.