SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891- 1953) Russian Pianist and Composer
Sergei Prokofiev was indisputably one of the greatest composers of the 20th Century. He was composing serious music and had begun working on an opera before the age of 10. His precocious talent was quickly recognized by Sergei Taneyev who was then Director of the Moscow Conservatory. Taneyev arranged for no less a luminary than Rheinhold Glière to spend the summer with the 11 year old Prokofiev in order to give him lessons in composition.
By the age of 13, Sergei Prokofiev had already composed three operas and began formal training at the St. Petersburg Conservatory where he worked with the likes of Glazounov, Tcherepnin, Lyadov, and Rimsky-Korsakov. His modernistic compositional tendencies inevitably ran afoul of the conservative Russian establishment resulting in poor grades, so he concentrated for a while on the piano. But in the end, his genius as a composer won out and he graduated at the top of his class in 1914. By this time Prokofiev had written two of his piano concerti, the second having caused a scandal at its premier.
Around this time Prokofiev began to travel. He met Diaghilev in Paris, as had his compatriot Stravinsky several years earlier, and his international career as a composer was launched.
Prokofiev left Russia after the revolution. He went to America in 1918 where he did not share the same good fortune as Rachmaninov, and then to Paris in 1920. His importance as a composer grew steadily, and in 1935 he returned to great acclaim to the Soviet Union which was to be his home until his death in 1953.
SERGEI PROKOFIEV PLAYS
Toccata Op. 11
Suggestion Diabolique, Op. 4 No. 4 Recorded in 1935
9 Pieces from Visions Fugitives (1917) 1. No. 9: Allegro Tranquillo - 2. No. 3: Allegretto - 3. No. 17: Poetico - 4. No. 18: Con una dolce lentezza - 5. No. 11: Con vivacità - 6. No. 10: Ridicolosamente - 7. No. 16: Dolente - 8. No. 6: Con eleganza - 9. No. 5: Molto giocoso Recorded in 1935.
5 pieces from Ten Small Piano Pieces, op.12 1. March - 2. Gavotte - 3. Rigaudon - 7. Prelude - 10. Scherzo Duo-Art piano roll
Andante Assai from Piano Sonata No. 4, Op. 29 Recorded in 1935
March from "The Love for Three Oranges" Duo-Arte piano roll
Etude for piano, Op.52 N°3
Gavotte from Symphony No. 1 "Classical" in D major , Op. 25
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26 Piero Coppola conducting the London Symphony Orchestra
