The Gambler (Prokofiev)

For the unfinished 1942 opera after Gogol, see The Gamblers (Shostakovich).
The Gambler
Opera by Sergei Prokofiev
Black and white photo of Prokofiev standing beside a fireplace, his arm resting on the mantlepiece
The composer c. 1918
Native title
Игрок, Igrok
LibrettistProkofiev
LanguageRussian
Based onThe Gambler
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Premiere
1929 (1929)
Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels

The Gambler (Russian: Игрок — Igrok in transliteration) is an opera in four acts by Sergei Prokofiev to a Russian libretto by the composer, based on the 1866 story of the same name by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Prokofiev had decided on this story as an operatic subject in 1914, and the conductor Albert Coates, of the Mariinsky Theatre, encouraged Prokofiev to compose this opera and assured him of a production at that theatre.[1] Prokofiev wrote the opera in piano score between November 1915 and April 1916, and completed the orchestration in January 1917.[2] Vsevolod Meyerhold was engaged as stage director. However, in the wake of the 1917 February Revolution, that production never occurred.

  1. ^ Porter, Andrew, "Prokofiev's Early Operas: The Gambler. The Love of Three Oranges" (August 1962). The Musical Times, 103 (1434) 528-530.
  2. ^ Robinson, Harlow (2000). "Dostoevsky and Opera: Prokofiev's The Gambler". The Musical Quarterly. LXX (1): 96–106. doi:10.1093/mq/LXX.1.96. Retrieved 18 August 2007.