L'ANGELO DI FUOCO

Speranza

We need to explore the process by which Briusov's novel is adapted to form the libretto of Prokofiev's opera. 

Prokofiev's earliest drafts are contained in a copy of the novel (2nd edn, Moscow: Skorpion, 1909) in which he made extensive marginal notes, underlinings, and other marks. 

This dates from 1919 and is held in RGALI, Moscow. 

The process is pursued through the draft of 1920–22, written largely in Ettal, Bavaria, a copy of which is held in the Serge Prokofiev Archive, and the final version of 1927 as used for the 1991 production in St Petersburg.

We need to examine which aspects of Briusov's novel were retained, which were abandoned and which were modified in the creation of the libretto, and provides a specific example of inter-code translation from a narrative to a dramatic form. 

Extensive reference should be made to Prokofiev's recently published diary and other biographical material relating to the composer's life in this period.