TV Standard: NTSC
Color: Colour

Credits:

Jan Nigges & Baroque Avenue

Description:

Returning to Germany after his wandering journey, the knight Ruprecht is surprised to hear his name called by a stranger, Renata, at his lodgings. Ruprecht departs when she asks him to take her to Cologne to find Count Heinrich, the incarnation of the fire angel Madiere, with whom he lived for a time, but who has abandoned him. Ruprecht, who has come to love Renata, finds Count Heinrich in Cologne and challenges him to a duel on the banks of the Rhine. Deeply wounded, Ruprecht recovers under Renata's care and asks her to love him again, but she refuses. Renata rushes to a convent, where an inquisition is held and Renata is sentenced to be burned... Although the work was completed in the 1920s, its premiere (at the Teatro La Fenice) did not take place until 1955, after the composer's death, probably due to its extreme occultism and aversion to sex scenes. The first performance (at the Teatro La Fenice) had to wait until 1955, after the composer's death. However, the composer loved the work so much that he boldly quoted its music in his Symphony No. 3 before his death.For this production, the up-and-coming Italian director Emma Dante has loaded the play with "a dazzling fusion of fantastic realism, endless nightmares, madness, sexual impulses, and cultural clashes" to create a unique stage that is both comically eerie and serene, symbolized by the frequent breakdancing of the devil. The main character, Lee Melrose, plays the lead role in the production. A stellar cast of singers, including Lee Melrose and Eva Vesin in the leading roles, and the Orchestra of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, led by Alejo Perez, a highly acclaimed opera conductor from Argentina, have created an outstanding production of Prokofiev's masterpiece. Naxos Japan