The Tortured History Behind Prokofiev’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’

The irony of the Russians, near the height of the Cold War when they were denouncing Western culture as decadent and bourgeois, approving of a performance of Shakespeare. As though their own history of literature wasn't sufficient and wouldn't be better known to the teeming masses of proletariats. But then we know who was really attending these ballets in the first place . . .

The last thing authoritarians need is a creative mind in their midst Artists and their works are the first to go in any program of control.

I am not persuaded that just because thematic material in Shostakovich's Sixth contains the same four sequential pitches as the opening of Prokofiev's ballet means that one is referencing or commenting on the other. Nothing else in the functioning of the pitches resembles each other, and that is more important musically. An egg and a clam both have shells, but chowder is not another kind of omelet.

"It could also be his moment to dethrone Shostakovich following the disastrous premiere of his opera “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk,” which was mocked by Stalin and denounced in the Communist newspaper Pravda." Am I mistaken in thinking that Stalin's denunciation did not come until about a year after the premiere, which was a huge success? I believe "Lady" had been performed more than 100 times in different cities before Stalin saw and wrote the infamous Pravda article.

In June 2013 Bonhams New York sold an archive of Prokofiev correspondence that sheds some light on the evolution of his "Romeo and Juliet": The letters and one telegram discuss in detail the production and reveal the close but rather complicated relationship between composer and conductor. Much of the sometimes angry discussion covers technical matters concerning the score..... "There was quite a fuss at the time about our attempts to give 'Romeo and Juliet' a happy ending in the last act," the composer recalled in an autobiographical sketch in Sovetskaya muzyka [Soviet Music] in 1941; "Romeo arrives a minute earlier, finds Juliet alive and everything ends well. The reasons for this bit of barbarism were purely choreographic: living people can dance, the dying cannot." His fight was primarily with the choreographer Leonid Lavrovskii, who ... demanded changes including a happy ending that Prokofiev refused.... It finally premiered at the Kirov in January 1940 with alterations to the score that the composer had never approved. In the letter from April 30, 1940 ... the composer complains to Sherman: "For four months nothing has been done and I don't know the state in which the ballet will reach Moscow ... I received your letter, but after such an uncivilized attitude (toward me) I cannot see how I can possibly deal with Kirovsky Theater matters." On receiving Josef Stalin's personal stamp of approval, however, it was performed at the Bolshoi in Moscow the following year ....

Wonderful article, especially with the music included. A breath of fresh air compared to the grim news these days. More articles like this please.

Prokofiev was not the only artist to whom such an attractive offer was made. Marlene Dietrich was in London, filming "Knight without Armour" for Korda in 1937, when she was invited to dinner by Ribbentrop, then Germany's ambassador to Britain. She was offered the then-vast resources of the German film industry if she were to return. She said, "I'll have to think it over." Upon her return to the United States she took out her first American citizenship papers, after living here since 1930. She went on to entertain Allied troops (including a dear friend of mine) and some of her most memorable screen performances, as well as a career as a cabaret performer and singer. In contrast stands Wallis Warfield Simpson, who apparently had an affair with Ribbentrop while she was dating the then Prince of Wales.

Great composers both. Shostakovich and Prokofiev. And to the mix Bartok (who poked fun of Shostakovich 7 in the Concerto for Orchestra). Despite hardship and emotional distress, these composers created works that made their way into the Canon of great symphonic music. Thank you this was a wonderful read and the sound and audio clips make it come alive!

Prokofiev was a musical prodigy, but experienced a troubled childhood and was depressed and self-absorbed. Besides being a melodist of genius-- Lt Keje Suite, Love for Three Oranges, Violin and Piano Sonata #2--he was also a literary artist as his several volumes of diaries, sketches, and memoirs show. Unlike more cosmopolitan Russian artists, such as Stravinsky and Nabokov, his talent flourished in his homeland. His collection of first-rate, even immortal, work is prodigious Joseph Stalin understood and appreciated music and literature. He also had decided tastes. He did not like musical modernism, and criticized Shostakovich's Lady MacBeth of Mtinsk. Shostakovich then wrote his greatest work, the dramatic and accessible Fifth Symphony. During the thirties and forties, Prokofiev too wrote accessible and patriotic music--Peter and the Wolf and film scores, including Alexander Nevsky and Ivan the Terrible. The artistic conditions of Prokofiev and Shostakovich waxed and waned as a result of political conditions. They waned in the thirties when Stalin was consolidating his power, Russia was alone in the world, and Hitler threatened the Soviet Union. They waxed in the early forties when Russia was a key member of the Grand Alliance. They waned once more in the late forties and early fifties at the height of the Cold War and when Stalin was becoming paranoid. Through it all, they maintained the quality of their great work.

The Shostakovitch 6th Symphony is a masterpiece composed right under Stalin's nose and sandwiched between two patriotic pieces, the emotionally contrite 5th Symphony and the corny bombast of the 7th. Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet suites possess stellar moments, but they have always seemed like episodic stream of consciousness, especially in comparison. Otherwise I'm happy to learn from this article about the potential motivic connection between the two works.

Genius under stress seems still to be able to create beauty. The competition between Shostakovitch and Prokofiev led to some of the most innovative (but still listenable) music of the 20th century. I think both of them will be on the cover of "Best of 20th Century" 100 years from now.

Tristan and Isolde would have made a great ballet. It is a pity Prokofiev didn't go down this path. The Boshoi was no doubt then and still is the premier place to perform ballet.

1936 was a scary time in Russia as Stalin tolerated not a hint of anything he just didn’t like. It could cost your life. You mentioned Shostakovich. He just finished his MAGNIFICENT 4th Symphony and was about to debut it. But he pulled it at the last minute because playing that symphony would have cost Shostakovich his life without doubt. The music is filled with stress and discord symbolizing life in Russia under Stalin. The 4th Symphony had its debut performance after Stalin died in 1953. The first performance was a few years after that. So yes, moving back to Russia in the mid 1930s was an idea sure to bring with it misery at its best and death as it’s worst!! Go listen to Shostakovich’s 4th Symphony! The stress is incredible in this masterpiece!

Never, ever underestimate what ego may do to an otherwise intelligent person. "He moved to the Soviet Union, chasing a lucrative offer to write any opera or ballet he wanted and an opportunity to take command of the country’s music scene." Only to be "Hoist with his own petar..."

Despite the tumult, despite Prokofiev's "colossal mistake" of moving back to Russia, his Piano Sonatas #6-8 (1940-1945) and Violin Sonata #1 (1946) are universally-acknowledged classics of 20th-century neoclassical repertoire. Possibly no other works of art more aptly capture the pathos - and unremitting hope - of Stalinist Russia during World War II.