Question by : What are your favorite pieces by Prokofiev?
What’s are your favorite pieces by Prokofiev. My favorite piece is Suggestion Diabolique.
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Answer by Vulcan
Peter and the Wolf, or course.
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speedy14 says
Personaly I favor his piano concertos and sonatas. Especially his second concerto and piano sonata no. 7. They’re wild in a wonderful way!
del_icious_manager says
My love affair with Prokofiev’s music has never faded (unlike that with Shostakovich, which has now become much more selective). In fact, as time has passed, more of Prokofiev’s hitherto unknown works (eg the melodrama ‘Eugene Onegin’) have come to light.
I can never cite just ONE favourite anything – life (and music) is just too full of riches to be that narrow. But among my favourite Prokofiev works are In no particular order:
Autumnal (In Autumn)
Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution (a riot – and much better than its title might suggest)
Eugene Onegin
Flute Sonata (yes, mamianka, I love this piece)
Ivan the Terrible (I prefer this to Alexander Nevsky)
Lieutenant Kijé
Piano Sonatas 6-8
Romeo and Juliet
Symphonies 3 and 6
Violin Concerto No 2
Oh yes – and if you have some stamina, try the opera ‘War and Peace’. It’s very long, has the largest cast of any opera (more than 60 named roles), but is brimming with some of Prokofiev’s best music.
Picardy Nerd says
AAAAHHH!!!
Oh, goodness. I don’t know where to start. Prokofiev is my favorite person ever.
I really love his cello sonata. So ineffably poignant. I also love his Symphony-Concerto – it leaves me restless, which I love about a piece of music: that it can put something real in me. There are the obvious ones. Peter and the Wolf. Romeo and Juliet Suites. I like some of the Cinderella, but there are a few spots that really make me cringe, so much that I’ve lost respect for it. Right now I’m working on appreciating Alexander Nevsky, and also The Love for Three Oranges, Symphonic Suite. I’m still trying to figure out what the piece has anything to do with oranges, though it does kind of feel round and citrus-y and epic, like an orange. Maybe I’m just filling in blanks out of desperation here, though.
I am a pianist, so my loyalty kind of lies with his works for piano. I love his opus 12, especially numbers 7 and 10. His piano sonatas are absolutely gorgeous. I’ve never heard anything like them and I doubt I ever will ever again – I am most fond of number six. His Visions Fugitives make me feel really dreamy and romantic and silly. They unsettle me in the best way, and they kind of make me want to squirm. Like when you’re really excited for something to happen and can’t do anything about speeding up the wait.
Oh, and how could I forget his piano concertos? His second is my jam. My number one on iTunes. My anthem. My life’s goal. The first movement’s cadenza rocks my socks. The second movement makes me panic. The third evokes involuntary headbanging. And the fourth is such a satisfying finale. I love all of them. Just, the second… really hits something. It was composed out of grief for a friend who had passed away, and you can just hear every single emotion he poured into the work – despair, defiance, anger, depression, and possibly even denial. I don’t know what to do, I love this piece so much.
I am missing so much. I love his Etudes for piano. They are impossible. I love his Flute Sonata. It’s really cute. I love his Violin Concertos. His String Quartets (so saucy). And oh, his Symphonies. Our school is playing the fifth next semester. Everyone is really excited about the second movement, which is really great, but I am almost alone in the fact that my favorite movement is the third. It feels… real. You want something beautiful, but you know you can’t have it, and you don’t know what to do, so you’re panicking, and you’re panicking, and you’re angry, and then you scream, because you feel yourself giving up, and there’s nothing left to do, so you let it happen…
Oh, jeez. One last piece. His Quintet. The first piece I ever heard by Prokofiev. My first love. It is so weird. The second movement begins with a tritone on solo bass, of all things. I love that I can appreciate this weird piece and it just makes me want to dance. I actually think it was supposed to be for a ballet, but the people who commissioned it didn’t like it. Or something. I don’t know. They were crazy people.
I think I’m done rambling.
<3 Prokofiev. I'm yo numa one fan!! Screw Warped Tour!
Malcolm D says
I really like his piano concertos. They are probably the best piano concertos of the twentieth century.
J.P. says
i played suggestion diabolique last semester. it’s a fun one and it’s really cool, but i definitely prefer his second piano concerto. the 3rd one is really good too.
mamianka says
Hey – I am a flutist- so I am going to say the flute sonata (just plain out of loyalty). However, five minutes with my husband ( a really fine pianist with a lot of Prok in his rep) and he will talk me down from that tree.
Ross says
violin sonata 2 a perfect blending of classical tradition with modern sounds. A great work.
wvculturallover says
Other than “Peter and the Wolf”, I was introduced to Prokofiev’s ballet “Romeo and Juliet” at a young age. I purchased an LP recording of a suite consisting of five dances from the ballet: Romeo at the Fountain, Juliet, Romeo and Juliet, Romeo at Juliet’s Tomb and Juliet’s Death. On the reverse side was Schoenburg’s Transfigured Night. This was rather heavy music for a kid in junior high school, but I was enthralled by its dark melodic qualities. As I grew older, I purchased the entire ballet, both on record and VHS tape and made a special trip to Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts to see a live performance by the Royal Ballet of London. Its drama never fails to move me and the music is lyrical and haunting.
On the lighter side, his ballet “Cinderella” is filled with wonderful waltzes and other dazzling music. So, check them both out either complete or in highlight format.