The Fiery Angel (opera) - Progress

Progress

With no previous commissions or any actual production being present, Prokofiev set out to write The Fiery Angel at one of the only times of his life in which religion was considered for his works. The thematic style is more like Prokofiev’s pre-Revolution operas (such as The Gambler), even with the ambiguity. The only theme that strays from the ambiguous is the theme involved with the evil forces. The opera as a whole is a contrast to some of Prokofiev’s earlier operas (such as his opera The Love for Three Oranges) just by being a tragedy, and the story was considered very appropriate for Prokofiev’s dark and sarcastic style. The production of the opera was one of the biggest hurdles, for different reasons, Prokofiev faced. There was a large amount of extra material in the work, there were what was considered violations of theater, negotiations with different theaters both in Europe and America continued to fail. In the midst of it all, Prokofiev felt like he was unappreciated and unwanted, but his pride kept him striving for recognition. In 1926, Bruno Walter made Prokofiev an offer to have The Fiery Angel produced at a Berlin theater, which prompted Prokofiev to work on the orchestration. The orchestration was finished in 1927. The production was still unsuccessful. The opera and inspiration came and went, but it was the promises of production that kept Prokofiev writing.