Great melodies, bold harmonies, audacious rhythms, plenty of virtuosity (Prokofiev was a piano virtuoso himself) and lots of Slavic charm and character.
For the past several weeks I have been listening repeatedly to these three concertos and only finding more and more to discover and admire each time. I have been a fan of the “Third” for many years but the “First” and”Second” are rather new to me.
The”First” was composed when Sergei Prokofiev was only 20 years old in 1911. The “Second” came a year later and the “Third” (probably the best known) was composed in 1921 when Prokofiev was only 30.
Sergei Prokofiev was quite a prolific composer during his rather short life of 62 years and his “greatness” (a word I don’t hand out easily) was apparent from the very start. Brilliant.
I also highly recommend the 1969 biography by Victor Seroff called “Sergei Prokofiev (A Soviet Tragedy).