- The Sheffield / A2TB Test Disc - "My Disc" · 1995
- Russian Film Music I + II CD & DVD · 2000
- Prokofiev: Flute Sonata, Five Melodies, Vission Fugitives · 1993
- The Best of Prokofiev · 1990
- Исполняет Сергей Прокофьев (2022 Remastered) · 2022
- Stravinsky & Prokofiev Conduct Their Works · 2014
- Prokofiev: Flute Sonata, Five Melodies, Vission Fugitives · 1993
- Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3, Visions Fugitives · 1953
- Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Solo (Piano Solo Played By the Composer) · 1998
- Russian Film Music I + II CD & DVD · 2002
- Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Solo (Piano Solo Played By the Composer) · 2012
- Prokofiev By Himself (Vol. 1) · 2012
- Prokofiev By Himself (Vol. 1) · 2011
Essential Albums
- Gergiev brought out of the London Symphony Orchestra a range of new colours when they played Prokofiev’s music, and this recording of the complete Romeo & Juliet ballet is a superb reminder of the Gergiev-LSO partnership. Full of glorious melodies; rich, vivid colours; and a really astounding rhythmic life, this is one of Prokofiev’s finest theatrical scores. And Gergiev is a true man of the theatre, often conducting for dancers—experience that gives his performance of the ballet real authority.
- 2024
Artist Playlists
- Like his contemporary Shostakovich, Prokofiev told the musical story of the USSR.
About Sergei Prokofiev
Prokofiev’s music, like its composer, can be blunt and direct. Yet Prokofiev also had a gift for writing beguiling melodies, which, as his style matured, gained in subtlety, expression and meaning. Born in 1891 in the rural Ukrainian estate of Sontsovka, Prokofiev’s musical talent was recognised early, and at Glazunov’s recommendation, he entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory at 13 years old. There, the budding composer/pianist developed into an enfant terrible, composing such showpieces for himself as “Suggestion diabolique”, Op. 4 No. 4 (1908, rev. 1912) and his Piano Concerto No. 1 (1912) before his graduation in 1914. After the Revolution he moved to France, building his reputation on the pugnacious style of his ballet Chout (1920). His involvement in Christian Science, starting in the mid-’20s, persuaded him to cultivate a “new simplicity”, which, as demonstrated in his film score for Lieutenant Kijé (1934), appeared to suit the Soviet Union’s new official aesthetic; Prokofiev was enticed to return to his homeland. While Peter and the Wolf (1936) and his cantata Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78 (1939) enjoyed popular success, the more anguished style of his First Violin Sonata (1938–46) and Piano Sonatas Nos 6-8 (1939–44) reflect the trauma of Stalin’s Great Terror. Prokofiev composed his Fifth Symphony during World War II, when such dark emotions were acceptable. However, his more explicitly tragic Sixth Symphony (1945–47) drew official censure. Prokofiev, in poor health, recovered his reputation with the charming yet enigmatic Seventh Symphony, which he completed shortly before his death in 1953.
- HOMETOWN
- Russia
- BORN
- 23 April 1891
- GENRE
- Classical