Sergei Prokofiev

Sound

Sergei Prokofiev

Born April 23, 1891 · Sontsovka, Bakhmut Uyezd, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Russian Empire [now Krasne, Krasnoarmiisk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine]

Died March 5, 1953 · aged 61

Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian Soviet composer, pianist and conductor. As the creator of acknowledged masterpieces across numerous music genres, he is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century. (via Wikipedia)

Known For

CaligulaCaligula · 1979
Caligula
★ 6.01979
MovieDramaHistory
After the death of the paranoid emperor Tiberius, Caligula, his heir, seizes power and plunges the empire into a bloody spiral of madness and depravity.
Love and DeathLove and Death · 1975
Love and Death
★ 7.51975
MovieComedyRomance
In czarist Russia, a neurotic soldier and his distant cousin formulate a plot to assassinate Napoleon.
Romeo + JulietRomeo + Juliet · 2026
Romeo + Juliet
2026
MovieMusicRomance
An original and danced adaptation of the Shakespeare classic.
Ivan the Terrible, Part IIvan the Terrible, Part I · 1944
Ivan the Terrible, Part I
★ 7.31944
MovieDramaHistory
Set during the early part of his reign, Ivan faces betrayal from the aristocracy and even his closest friends as he seeks to unite the Russian people. Sergei Eisenstein's final film, this is the first part of a three-part biopic of Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, which was never completed due to the producer's dissatisfaction with Eisenstein's attempts to use forbidden experimental filming techniques and excessive cost overruns. The second part was completed but not released for a decade after Eisenstein's death and a change of heart in the USSR government toward his work; the third part was only in its earliest stage of filming when shooting was stopped altogether.
Ivan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars' PlotIvan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars' Plot · 1958
Ivan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars' Plot
★ 7.31958
MovieHistoryDrama
This is the second part of a projected three-part epic biopic of Russian Czar Ivan Grozny, undertaken by Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein at the behest of Josef Stalin. Production of the epic was stopped before the third part could be filmed, due to producer dissatisfaction with Eisenstein's introducing forbidden experimental filming techniques into the material, more evident in this part than the first part. As it was, this second part was banned from showings until after the deaths of both Eisenstein and Stalin, and a change of attitude by the subsequent heads of the Soviet government. In this part, as Ivan the Terrible attempts to consolidate his power by establishing a personal army, his political rivals, the Russian boyars, plot to assassinate him.
Alexander NevskyAlexander Nevsky · 1938
Alexander Nevsky
★ 7.11938
MovieDramaHistory
When German knights invade Russia, Prince Alexander Nevsky must rally his people to resist the formidable force. After the Teutonic soldiers take over an eastern Russian city, Alexander stages his stand at Novgorod, where a major battle is fought on the ice of frozen Lake Chudskoe. While Alexander leads his outnumbered troops, two of their number, Vasili and Gavrilo, begin a contest of bravery to win the hand of a local maiden.
The Turning PointThe Turning Point · 1977
The Turning Point
★ 6.61977
MovieDramaRomance
As young dancers, they were best friends and fierce rivals. Deedee left the stage for marriage and motherhood, while Emma would become an international ballet icon. But when Deedee's teenage daughter is invited to join Emma's dance company and begins an affair with a young Russian star, the two women are forced to confront the choices they've made, the resentments they've hidden and the emotional truths they must face at the turning point.
Yuja Wang x David Hockney London LightroomYuja Wang x David Hockney London Lightroom · 2025
Yuja Wang x David Hockney London Lightroom
2025
MovieMusic
At the Lightroom in London, pianist Yuja Wang offers an extraordinary recital at the heart of the immersive exhibition devoted to David Hockney. In this concert, the British painter's brightly coloured canvases enter into communion with the musical works performed, ranging from Bach to Samuel Barber. An unusual unison of the visual and audio arts.

Filmography

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Ivan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars' PlotIvan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars' Plot · 1958
Ivan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars' Plot
★ 7.31958
MovieHistoryDrama
This is the second part of a projected three-part epic biopic of Russian Czar Ivan Grozny, undertaken by Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein at the behest of Josef Stalin. Production of the epic was stopped before the third part could be filmed, due to producer dissatisfaction with Eisenstein's introducing forbidden experimental filming techniques into the material, more evident in this part than the first part. As it was, this second part was banned from showings until after the deaths of both Eisenstein and Stalin, and a change of attitude by the subsequent heads of the Soviet government. In this part, as Ivan the Terrible attempts to consolidate his power by establishing a personal army, his political rivals, the Russian boyars, plot to assassinate him.

Original Music Composer

Peter and the WolfPeter and the Wolf · 1995
Peter and the Wolf
★ 5.61995
MovieFamilyAnimation
Sergei Prokofiev's symphonic masterpiece, first performed in Russia in 1936, has been lauded not only for the spectacular musical score, but also for the story itself--of a young boy who outwits a wily wolf. George Daugherty brings this timeless tale to modern audiences by seamlessly weaving live-action with animation and music by the RCA Symphony Orchestra. The story opens as a grandfather (Lloyd Bridges) hosts his daughter (Kirstie Alley) and grandson (Ross Malinger from Sleepless in Seattle) during a visit to his country cottage. After lunch, the trio settles in as grandfather recounts "The Story" of Peter's adventures with a bird, cat, and dizzy duck on the outskirts "of a very dark forest." The film morphs into a clever cartoon designed by the legendary Chuck Jones (of Wile E. Coyote fame). The "story within a story" leaps to life while the accompanying musical instruments also emerge as playful personalities.

Music

Prokofiev: War and PeaceProkofiev: War and Peace · 2023
Prokofiev: War and Peace
2023
MovieMusic
Sergei S. Prokofiev's monumental setting of Leo N. Tolstoy's epic novel, War and Peace. The composer and his wife Mira compressed the plot, set during Napoleon's Russian campaign, into a powerful sequence of scenes in which the love story between Natasha Rostova and Andrei Bolkonsky and the description of the Russian army's fight against the French invasion alternate in rich contrast, and at the same time are closely interwoven. All is related by the music in its fullness of splendid themes and touchingly quiet moments. Prokofiev's musical-dramatic masterpiece combines social drama and historical chronicle in its 13 scenes to form an exuberant panorama. In this production by Dmitri Tcherniakov, the opera is performed in in Munich for the first time ever.

Original Music Composer

Peter and the WolfPeter and the Wolf · 2017
Peter and the Wolf
2017
MovieMusic
Gorgeous tunes and orchestral thrills for the young and young at heart: with a twinkle in her eye, the warm, whimsical and occasionally wicked Miriam Margolyes leads us through an orchestral storytelling extravaganza. Matching instruments to their animal counterparts in Prokofiev's timeless classic, Peter and the Wolf exploring witty vignettes and a dazzling fugue in Benjamin Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra and magical tales of love and fantasy in Borodin's Polovstian Dances from Prince Igor. Margolyes is joined by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra with Principal Conductor Nicholas Carter in a captivating program filmed live in concert at the 2017 Adelaide Festival - a sellout performance season that was a crowd-pleaser for young and old.

Original Music Composer

Prokofiev: CinderellaProkofiev: Cinderella · 2015
Prokofiev: Cinderella
2015
Movie
Commissioned by the Mariinsky in 2002, 'Cinderella' was the production that launched choreographer Alexei Ratmansky onto the world stage. Filmed in 2013 and now released on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time, the production stars one of the foremost prima ballerinas in the world today, Diana Vishneva. Recently described by The Telegraph as being 'as close to physical and technical perfection as it is possible to be', Vishneva delivers a dazzling performance, and is conducted by leading Prokofiev interpreter, Valery Gergiev. Ratmansky is the world s most influential ballet-maker, credited with revitalising classical dance through a series of highly individual productions. He breathes new life into Prokofiev s ballet, weaving together an array of different styles and echoing the complexities of the composer s score.

Music