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The Gambler, written by Sergei Prokofiev in his mid-twenties (he later made some revisions), has the brashness and self-confidence of youth. The composer was unwilling to compromise with the conventions of opera, even of "modern" opera, and he had firm ideas about what to do instead. The result still has the shock value he wanted, though time has lessened the shock.
The Gambler has been on the Met stage before, in a guest Bolshoi production, but at that time (1975) the house lacked a system of titles, and this is one opera whose dialogue really needs to be understood. For the Met's own first production, principal guest conductor Valery Gergiev brought a team of ...