An amalgamation of traditional Italian fairy tales, the story follows the bizarre quest of a hypochondriac Prince. He is cured of his affliction by laughing at an evil witch, who responds by cursing him to search obsessively for three oranges; after he steals the oranges from a giant cook, he marries a Princess who emerges from within the fruit. The convoluted tale was concocted by 18^th century Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi, who triumphantly mocked the emerging realist theatre movement by proving that pure silliness still won the day. Meyerhold’s adaptation added to the madness with fourth-wall-breaking “spectators” who react to the action on stage.

None of this sounds like operatic material, which may be why the unconventional Prokofiev was drawn to it. Yet the spectators’ commentary reveals that Three Oranges has it all: tragedy, comedy, romance, farce, and fantasy. Recognizing the opportunity to channel these elements into an unprecedented musical hybrid, Prokofiev arrived in San Francisco in August 1918 as fixated on his potential opera as the Prince on his three oranges.

Despite a vicious case of scarlet fever, Prokofiev completed The Love for Three Oranges on October 1, 1919. There was no shortage of buzz around the impending premiere, which was rapidly approaching $80,000 in expenses (over $1 million in today’s dollars!) for the extravagant sets. In fact, citrus growers began to battle over advertising rights for the first performance, with one Florida company promising to give a blood orange to everyone in attendance if it could put a fruit stand in the lobby reading: “This succulent and healthful brand inspired Prokofieff [sic] and is used exclusively by him in this opera and at home.” 

Over the next two years, however, Three Oranges suffered first a postponement, then a full cancellation – financial disasters for Prokofiev, who was barely scraping by in America on concert piano performances. It took the miraculous appointment of soprano and notorious diva Mary Garden as head of the Chicago Opera to resuscitate the fading opera. Neither were the rehearsals smooth sailing: Prokofiev’s legendarily explosive feud with the producer included a 20-minute battle over whether the sick Prince should spit or sneeze. Yet when Three Oranges finally premiered on December 30, 1921, it was a brilliant success. A packed house roared with laughter at the comic moments and thundered with applause for Prokofiev. Unfortunately, traditionalist American critics were befuddled, grinding the opera’s momentum to a halt.