Sergei Prokofiev - The Gambler
Wexford Festival Opera, 2026
Valentin Uryupin, Ivan Popovsky, Igor Onishchenko, Sophie Gordeladze, Alexei Botnarciuc, Hilary Ginther, Gavan Ring, Rory Musgrave, Clarry Bartha, Seán Tester, Ross Cumming, Wonsick Oh, Olga Conway
O'Reilly Theatre, National Opera House, Wexford - 22nd October 2026
In terms of the general overall theme of the three main stage operas at the Wexford Festival Opera's celebratory 75th anniversary programme as "one for the heart, one for the head and one for fun", Prokofiev's The Gambler is the "one for the head", but I think it's really one for the heart. The head doesn't enter into it when you are dealing with the Russian character as described in Dostoevsky's short novel, nor does it in Prokofiev's stunning translation of it into an exceptional opera. Admittedly though, it's hard to know where the heart lies in it either, except for the fact that it is passionate on every level.
The word 'passion' is barely sufficient though, as the subject and its treatment go far beyond that. I'm sure there must be a Russian word for it or maybe a German one. Passion in Russian terms (in at least as far as my reading of the 19th century Russian masters is concerned) is more of obsession; an irrational obsession that pushes the individual to their limits and on a road to self-destruction. Russian art and literature is littered with the corpses of its romantic heroes, and they are not just fictional constructs either. Count Leo Tolstoy lived a life of privileged dissolution before his redemption, Tchaikovsky's life is mirrored in the solitary fate of Eugene Onegin, and Pushkin - the author of that work - consumed in scandal and debt himself, died in a tragic duel at a young age. Dostoevsky's life is filled with incident and horror, but he also felt the full force of the gambling addiction that afflicts Alexei and the General's family in his short novel, The Gambler.
In some ways you can also see the Russian nature of Prokofiev himself in this work or at least in how he identifies with an pours himself into the opera, driven to express the madness that possessed the character of Alexei, and not just Alexei, but the General, Polina and all the others - not least the Grandmother - as they become consumed with gambling in the fictional German spa town casino of Roulettenberg - effectively gambling their lives against fate. The music evokes those wild irrational actions and behaviour in bold expression, in dissonance, Prokoviev constantly pushing at the edges of musical sanity. It's extraordinary, the only way to express such behaviours (although to be fair Tchaikovsky does it his own way no less effectively in Eugene Onegin and in The Queen of Spades). Prokofiev takes that kind of expression to an epic level in his War and Peace (1946), and an even wilder extreme in The Fiery Angel (1927), but here in this 1917 work, the musical language has a concentrated intensity.
The 2026 Wexford Festival Opera production directed by Ivan Popovsky does not seek to impose any revisionist or modern perspective on the work, but it is stylised in a way that seems closely related to the qualities of the work. It's not set in the original period and it's not set in the present day but in an abstract world of stark black and white in the set design and costumes. It's an expression of the nature of then work itself; there are no shades of grey here, everything is thrown out into the open, the passions - obsessions and madness - unrestrained; the naked greed, the soul of the Russian headlong rush to self-destruction laid bare. It's a matter of acceptance of that nature, not hiding it, submitting to the inner urge, the reckless idealism of abandoning oneself to the hands of fate no matter where it takes you.
So while Andrei is permanently on the edge of self-destruction, losing everything in the casino, betting everything on another turn of the roulette wheel, it's all with the aim of furthering another obsession to have wealth and be worthy of marrying the General's daughter Polina: it's just one obsession leading to another, or one obsession wrapped up in madness. The outcome is in the hands of fate, all that matters is throwing oneself into it without hesitation or caution. The General and the Marquis both have their own vices and they are depending on fate settling things with the General's Grandmother for them; expecting her ill health and apparently imminent death to provide them with an inheritance to pay off debts and arrange suitable marriages. Fate inevitably takes its own path, as Grandma turns up in Roulettenburg for literally one last throw of the dice.
The monochrome set enhances and reflects these extreme character and behaviour traits out into open display, never mind looking for undercurrents or subtexts. Act II however is content to push that even further ending before the interval with the surreal image of a dark blob oozing out of the casino and getting its grip on Grandma. There are plenty of other tricks in store in the second half's Act III and IV, including red and black ballet dancers spinning as a living roulette wheel and the walls of the set closing in to reflect the almost unbearable intensity of the emotions reaching a fever pitch that is matched in the acrobatics of the score.
You would expect there to be no holding back in the musical performance or the singing and that is evidently what you get in this stunning Wexford production. Prokofiev's score - like all his major operas - is a marvel. There is nothing that even hints of conventionality in its expressionist modernism that is restless, probing and revealing; a soundtrack of the Russian soul. The Wexford orchestra deliver an impressive musical performance under the direction of Valentin Uryupin, Prokofiev's score always keeping you on your toes, taking you by surprise at its twists, turns and crashes.
There is a remarkable performance from Igor Onishchenko here as Alexei. To say this is a challenging role is an understatement, although it's not as if the tenor has any choice in the matter of expression; there are few scenes when he is not on stage and singing at full tilt but Onishchenko - whose biographical notes reveal a high level of experience in all the major Russian operas - has a wonderful timbre and expressive lyrical quality, even in the most extreme edges of the range.
Onishchenko is matched only by the equally exceptional Sophie Gordeladze as Polina, but really you have to share praise with all the cast, including Alexei Botnarciuc as the General, Hilary Ginther as Blanche, Clarry Bartha as Grandma, Gavan Ring as the Marquis and Rory Musgrave as Mr Astley. The latter two familiar Irish singers seemingly transformed and almost unrecognisable here. That above all demonstrated the essential quality displayed here, all performers clearly fully invested in their characters, in the expression of the opera’s intense treatment of the subject and working with the fine musical performance and stage direction that held it all together. This was a superb production on every level.
The Wexford production of L'equivoco stravagante can be currently be viewed from the RTE Lyric FM site.
External links: Wexford Festival Opera, RTE Lyric FM Streaming