Maddalena by Sergei Prokofiev and L’heure espagnole by Maurice Ravel have never been onstage together on the same night. However, the operas-contemporaries complement each other in many ways. The swiftness of the time flow is similar in them: a rapid pulse, like a barometer, captures the anxious atmosphere of the approaching global cataclysms of the early 20th century. The driving force of the plots is a love passion of several men towards one woman, which is fuelled by southern blood (the location of the first opera is Venice, the second unfolds in Toledo). At the same time, the gloomy bloody Maddalena contrasts sharply with L’heure espagnole, a light sitcom. According to the director Vladislavs Nastavševs, this contrast is a reflection of the differences between two cultures, the Russian and French: “Where Russian see mortal passions, the French find a reason to smile and make a joke”.