May 24, 2026 | Svetlanov Hall of the Moscow Performing Arts Center
Soloist – Nikolayi Lugansky, piano
Cinductor – Vladimir Spivakov
Sergei Prokofiev
Concerto No. 2 for piano and orchestra in G minor, Op. 16
Prokofiev. "Lieutenant Kijé" Suite, Op. 60
Prokofiev. "Romeo and Juliet" Suite
April 2026 was marked by the 135th anniversary of one of the preeminent composers of the 20th century — Sergei Prokofiev. A great master, he created innovative works in various genres from piano miniatures to operas. Prokofiev was an illustrious conductor and a talented pianist whose impact on performing arts was immense.
Prokofiev’s fame started with his two first Paino Concertos brilliantly performed by the author himself in concert halls of Moscow and Saint-Petersburg in 1912 and 1913. His manner of playing was in full consistency with the spirit of his opuses. “Steel muscles”, “athletic pianism”, “acrobatics” — such were the definitions ascribed to the musician. Francis Poulenс remembered: “Oh, how divinely he played! He was peerless! Fingers straight on the keys, and that unbelievable sureness of his hand, overwhelming Staccato. The hand strong and pliable as steel, thus, while touching the keys, he achieved the sound of great power and intensity, he did not change the tempo even once, ever… His rhythm was merciless.”
Into the NPR’s May program dedicated to the composer, Vladimir Spivakov included two symphonic suites by Prokofiev and his Second Piano Concerto – a revolutionary “futuristic” opus, which, according to Boris Asafiev, “staggered its first audience by its novelty and brilliance”. Later on, Sviatoslav Richter considered it to be “one of the three whales of the modern pianism”, while critics compared the newness of the Second Piano Concerto with the breakthrough of Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring”. Prokofiev himself regarded it as his favorite and used to play it quite often.
In the coming concert the solo part in Piano Concert no. 2 will be played by the People’s Artist of Russia Nikolai Lugansky in whose repertoire Prokofiev’s music has a special place while the Second (“full of darkness”) and the Third Concertos the musician calls his most loved: “If the Third Concerto is the Sun, the Second is an abyss and a huge personal drama.”
Prokofiev’s Suite “Lieutenant Kije” includes five fragments from the music to the film of the same name made by director Alexander Fainzimmer based on Yury Tynianov’s novel. This is the composer’s first involvement with films followed by “La Dame de Pique” and the epic “Alexander Nevsky”. He had no experience with film scores before his first attempt and did not know how it should work. However, the film makers managed to persuade him, and he performed his job with high creativity. “For me the most important was the epoch, the internal sense of each event, the portrayal of each character”, – said he. When the film was almost ready for distribution Prokofiev worked scrupulously over the Suite: he had to find the appropriate form, re-orchestrate, re-finish and even tie in the themes. In December 1934 the Suite was first performed in Moscow and had a great success.
Among Prokofiev’s works for theater the most famous has become the “Romeo and Juliet” ballet which had a complicated history of struggling for being understood and accepted. Nowadays the superb symphonic music to the ballet is always heard in concert halls in the form of Suites (the composer wrote three Suites), in full or in fragments. One of such compositions was made by Vladimir Spivakov choosing the most important scenes from the ballet.