<<  -- 3 --  Robert Anderson    OUTLANDISH CURSES

It turns out otherwise. When the court is at its wits' end in the attempt to extort a laugh from the prince, Fata Morgana enters to make sure he will never recover or inherit the throne. But in her exuberance she collides with Serghei Khomov as the jester Trouffaldino and tumbles over backwards. The official reaction is dismay, that of the prince a tentative 'Ha, ha' that develops into infectious gales of laughter [watch and listen -- DVD1 chapter 11, 43:41-44:42]. Morgana may be overturned, but she is mistress of outlandish curses so that she now decrees the prince will fall hopelessly in love with three oranges. Though still in his pyjamas, the prince urges Trouffaldino they must be off at once in search of the desirable fruit.

At the start of Act 2 Tchélio invokes the demon Farfarello to puff the suitor and his reluctant companion at ever greater speed towards the domain of the male giant of a cook, where the oranges are kept. This gives Prokofiev excuse for the quicksilver Scherzo that has always been a favourite feature of the work [watch and listen -- DVD2 chapter 3, 9:30-10:41]. Tchélio has provided a fetching ribbon to divert the attention of the awesome cook, so that the monstrous oranges can be dragged from their larder-prison through the scorching sands towards the royal palace. The prince and his companion are almost dying of thirst, but there is worse to come [watch and listen -- DVD2 chapter 6, 18:54-19:51].

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