OVERVIEW

A 1927 revised version
Libretto by the composer after the 1866 novel by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821–1881)

Conductor Marek Šedivý
Stage director Jiří Nekvasil
Sung in Russian with Czech and English surtitles

Prokofiev found the subject for his first mature opera in Dostoevsky’s short novel The Gambler. Written under pressure to repay gambling debts, Dostoevsky completed the text in just 26 days—interrupting work on Crime and Punishment. The story, shaped by the author's personal struggles with gambling addiction, offered fertile ground for operatic treatment.

Set in 1865 in the fictional German spa town of Roulettenburg, the opera portrays a world consumed by passion and destructive grip of addiction. Its protagonist, Alexei, falls desperately in love with Polina while spiralling into the grip of roulette and inevitable downfall.

As a young and daring composer, Prokofiev approached the novel with a modernist spirit, exploring new forms and expressions in opera. Drawing on Mussorgsky’s innovations, Prokofiev developed a declamatory vocal style to bring the prose vividly to life, crafting intense psychological drama through music. His orchestration and vocal writing closely mirror the emotional shifts on stage, lending immediacy and depth to every gesture and glance.

Originally intended for the Mariinsky Theatre in early 1917, the premiere was halted by the February Revolution. The opera finally debuted over a decade later in its revised form on 29 April 1929 at Brussels’ Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie. Despite critical acclaim—referring to the composer as “Mozart in the musical language of our time” as one headline proclaimed—it remained unperformed in the Soviet Union during Prokofiev’s lifetime due to ideological constraints.  Now this 20th-century operatic gem receives its long-awaited Ostrava premiere.

Premieres on 21 and 23 May 2026 at the Antonín Dvořák Theatre

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