(1891–1953) was a Russian and Soviet composer who mastered numerous musical genres and came to be admired as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century.
Sergei Prokofiev was born in Sontsovka, Krasnoarmiiskyi Raion, in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. He had one brother. His mother was a pianist and his first music teacher and his father was a carpenter.
Prokofiev displayed unusual musical abilities by the age of five. His first piano composition to be written down (by his mother), an 'Indian Galop', was in F major but without the customary B-flat--the young Prokofiev did not like to touch the black keys. By the age of seven, he had also learned to play chess. Much like music, chess would remain a passion his entire life, and he became aquainted with world chess champions Capablanca and Botvinnik.
A child prodigy, at the age of nine he was composing his first opera, The Giant; an overture; and miscellaneous pieces. By 1902, when Prokofiev started taking private lessons in composition, he had already produced a number of innovative pieces. As soon as he had the necessary theoretical tools, he quickly started experimenting, laying the base for his own musical style.Prokofiev was soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Piero Coppola, in the world premiere recording of his third piano concerto, recorded in London by His Master's Voice in June 1932. The recording has exceptionally clear sound and Prokofiev's piano virtuoso playing remains very impressive. Prokofiev also recorded some of his solo piano music for HMV in Paris in February 1935. These recordings were issued on CD by Pearl. In 1938, he conducted the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra in a recording of the second suite from his ballet Romeo and Juliet; this performance was also later released on LP and CD. Another reported recording with Prokofiev and the Moscow Philharmonic was of the Prokofiev first violin concerto with David Oistrakh as the soloist; Everest Records later released this recording on an LP, along with a performance of Khachaturian's violin concerto with that composer conducting the Philharmonic with much inferior sound compared to the EMI recording with Khachaturian and Oistrakh.
