Event overview
'Between realism and modernism: the case of Sergei Prokofiev'
A self-proclaimed modernist and enfant terrible, Sergei Prokofiev is known mostly within the context of his later, Soviet period works. But he embarked on his compositional career with an ambitious and radical aesthetic, one that he engages with in his first mature opera, 'The Gambler'. This talk positions the early music of Sergei Prokofiev between modernism and realism in the process providing an alternative portrait of the artist as a young man and redressing his current position as a purely ‘Soviet’ composer. In attempting to reconcile his Russian heritage with his fundamental belief in modernism, Prokofiev creates a personal aesthetic and musical language that plays with two very different and at times conflicting aesthetics. The present discussion traces the musical trajectory of this aesthetic, from his early works for orchestra through to his first major work.
Dr Christina Guillaumier is a pianist and musicologist. She is Lecturer in Music and heads the department of Creative and Contextual Studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. A prize-winning graduate of the universities of London and Oxford, Christina also holds numerous diplomas in piano performance. Her PhD (University of St Andrews) examined Prokofiev’s early music. Previous post-doctoral roles include being Visiting Research Fellow at Princeton University and Research Associate at the Serge Prokofiev Archive in London. She is a published author on Prokofiev and the recipient of several prestigious research awards. She is currently working on a monograph on Prokofiev's opera commissioned by Boydell and Brewer. Current research interests include Russian music, music and politics, contemporary opera and performance studies. Previous collaborative projects include the reconstruction and world premiere, together with Professor Rita McAllister, of the original version of Prokofiev's opera 'War and Peace', a project that was completed in 2010 and received performances in Russia and Scotland.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Nov 2012 | 5:00pm - 6:30pm |
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