‘Prokofiev: Traditionalist innovator or composer in search of an audience?’

Sergei Prokofiev is considered to be one of the great names in the repertoire of classical music. Yet his career as a composer was faced by many challenges and his success was surpassed by at least one other musician wherever he went; by Rachmaninov in San Francisco, Stravinsky in Paris, and Shostakovich on his return to the USSR.
Prokofiev nevertheless tried to renew himself and adapt to his new audience, creating a myriad of works in sometimes very different styles. This lecture aims to recontextualise the reception of this composer's music, which is sometimes considered too traditionalist, sometimes too innovative. Using examples from his Second Piano Concerto and Symphony No. 2, the talk will moreover consider what this music might mean today for a 21st-century audience.
French lecture, free entry upon presentation of the ticket for the following concert.