Sergei Prokofiev

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was a leading Soviet composer and brilliant pianist. He left Russia in 1918 and lived in Germany and Paris for the next sixteen years, with frequent trips to America for concert appearances. In 1934, he settled in Moscow and composed prolifically until his death. Among his best known works are the ballet scores Roméo and Juliet, Cinderella, and Prodigal Son; the opera Love for Three Oranges; the children’s classic Peter and the Wolf; the film score and cantata for Alexander Nevsky; and the Classical Symphony.

The first Soviet performance of Roméo and Juliet was given at the Kirov Theater on January 11, 1940. Preceding the first performance there were many disagreements between the choreographer, Leonid Lavrovsky, and Prokofiev. The dancers failed to understand the music; and the orchestra, in a desperate effort to avoid a disaster, tried to cancel the show. Despite so little hope for success, the ballet was well received and has been popular ever since. The Lavrovsky ballet was finally presented by the Bolshoi Ballet on December 28, 1946.

“There was quite a fuss at the time about our attempts to give Roméo and Juliet a happy ending – in the last act Roméo arrives a minute earlier, finds Juliet alive and everything ends well. The reasons for this bit of barbarism were purely choreographic: living people can dance, the dying cannot. …But what really caused me to change my mind about the whole thing was a remark someone made to me about the ballet: ‘Strictly speaking, your music does not express any real joy at the end.’ That was quite true. After several conferences with the choreographers, it was found that the tragic ending could be expressed in the dance and in due time the music for that ending was written.” — Sergei Prokofiev