The LPO and their artistic director Vladimir Jurowski will focus on the composer Sergei Prokofiev over the next weeks. Named ‘Prokofiev – Man of the people?’ the festival will explore one of the most misunderstood men in 20th century music in fourteen events over 20 days, from 13 January until 1 February. The many highlights of the series include the performance of Prokofiev’s 5th Piano Concerto with Stephen Osborne in a concert also including the 6th Symphony (on 18 January) and the world premiere of Levon Atovmyan’s oratorio-arrangement of Prokofiev’s film score to Eisenstein’s film Ivan the Terrible (on 28 January): Atovmyan was confidante of both Shostakovich and Prokofiev, and a man who has done more than anyone else to bring the unheard work of both composers to life.

The festival tries to re-assess the position of Prokofiev, as Vladimir Jurowski explains: ‘As with most composers of the 20th-century, there's a discrepancy in our perception between Prokofiev the artist and his 'persona' […] I feel there has been a reluctance to recognise Prokofiev as a genius because of how his politics are understood. After escaping the restrictive creative environment of his homeland in 1918, moving to the USA and then Paris, Prokofiev felt compelled to return to the Soviet Union in 1936, bearing the brunt of artistic censorship until his death in 1953.  This festival gives us the opportunity to gain a more in-depth understanding of him as a composer and as a man, enriching the black and white over- simplified view that tends to be held – especially in Britain.’

Click here [http://www.lpo.org.uk/prokofiev/home.html] for full information on the festival.

The Opus Arte catalogue features Prokofiev’s fairy tale opera The Love for Three Oranges after Carlo Gozzi in a production from De Nederlandse Opera  [http://www.opusarte.com/en/prokofiev-the-love-for-three-oranges-dno.html ] and a landmark performance of the 5th Symphony conducted by Sergiu Celibidache [http://www.opusarte.com/en/celibidache-conducts-prokofiev-symphony-no-5-and-strauss-death-and-transfiguration.html].  The ballet catalogue includes a danced version of his ever-popular Peter and the Wolf from the Royal Ballet School [http://www.opusarte.com/en/peter-and-the-wolf-roh.html] and Nureyev’s re-interpretation of Cinderella set in 1930s Hollywood from Paris Opera Ballet [http://www.opusarte.com/en/prokofiev-cinderella-paris-opera-ballet.html].