P
rokofiev’s and Nabokov’s paths crossed indirectly over
the years. In his early life, Prokofiev met Vladimir
Nabokov only twice: the first time at a Rachmaninov
concert and then at a chess tournament. Later, while living in
America, Prokofiev struck up a close friendship with Nikolai Nabokov, the composer, as opposed to his famous cousin
Vladimir Nabokov, the writer.
A blunder, a chess opening and checkmate, all these intricacies of chess were well familiar to a distant relative of Nabokov, Sergei Taneyev, who was a professional composer and a
great lover of the ancient game. Even though he never had a
chance to play chess against Prokofiev, it was Taneyev who
navigated the ten-year-old Sergei to a career in music. At
some point, the juvenile composer, carrying a portfolio of his
own music, was taken to the professor’s house. Prokofiev did
not remember much of that momentous visit; what he did remember though, was a bar of chocolate from the table he was
treated with upon his arrival. In his diary, Taneyev noted the
outstanding musical ability and the exceptionally good ear of
“Sereyz henka Prokofiev,” the signature the young composer
employed for his opera The Giant. The Professor’s verdict was
conclusive: to start music and harmony lessons as a matter of
urgency and to sign compositions with a more appropriate
name of “Sergei” or, at least, “Seryozha.” Several years later,
when listening to Prokofiev’s innovative, rather audacious musical pieces, Taneyev clutched his head in mock desperation:
“Did I really push you down this slippery path?” Nabokov’s
“chess” qualities helped Prokofiev many times.
Prokofiev preferred to begin his concerts with powerful compositions. He used to say that “to win over the audience, one
has to pull a flanker on the king’s side.” Prokofiev’s debut in
1904, his musical opening followed suit. His most impressive
appearance was at his entrance examination to the conservatory, which he described along these lines: “The examinee before me was a bearded man who performed a romance without accompaniment. Enter I, struggling under the load of two
folders containing four operas, two sonatas, a symphony, and
a few piano pieces. ‘I am impressed!’ said Rimsky-Korsakov,
the chief examiner.”
As a student at the conservatory, Prokofiev frequented the
Chess Club in St. Petersburg, the only Russian guild that he
joined before he became member of Moscow branch of the
Union of Soviet Composers in 1937. At the Chess Club, Prokofiev had the opportunity to watch games played by the dominant chess champions Emanuel Lasker, Jose Raul Capablanca,
and Alexander Alekhine. And he was able, not only to watch,
but to play against them. Beginning with 1909, afterthe seventeen-year-old Prokofiev played against Lasker and the game
ended in a draw, his name became familiar to readers of the
popular Russian chess journals.
Lasker had his sweet revenge, when in Paris, by winning
a game against Prokofiev. But then the composer got his
reward after he played a game against Capablanca and won.
Prokofiev used to call chess “his business No 2.” He put it to
good use as in the Chess Club he made a lot of useful contacts
12
1896
Composed a piece
of music called the
“Indian Gallop”
1898
Began to master chess
1901
Opera The Giant
was composed
by Seryozhenka
(a pet name employed
for the child) Prokofiev
1902
Acquaintance with Sergei
Taneyev; taking music
lessons from Reinhold
Glière, (an amiable man,
he felt happy to be with)
1904
Prokofiev entered
the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Took special pride
in being called
an enfant terrible
1908
First piano performance
at a Modern Music
Night (generally well
accepted, but criticized
for excessive modernity
that “even eclipsed
the French”)
1909
Graduated from the
composition department
of the Conservatory
1912 August
Moscow première of his
First Piano Concerto
performed by the
composer
1912 September
Première in Pavlovsk
of his Second Piano
Concerto branded
as outrageous
futuristic music.
Prokofiev defied the
audience, performing
an encore and bowing
continuously
1914
Graduated from the
piano department
of the Conservatory with
a gold medal and the
prestigious Rubenstein
award. The prize was
a grand piano and
his mother gave him
a trip to London
as a present
1914 June
Met Igor Stravinsky
and Sergei Diaghilev
in London.
Described it as a lucky
strike on the way to broad
European success,
bypassing all the barriers.
The new Diaghilev season
opened with two ballets:
Stravinsky’s Wedding
and a Prokofiev ballet
1914
Diaghilev refused
to stage Prokofiev’s
ballet Ala i Lolli claiming
the discrepancy between
the foreign music
and the Russian subject.
Prokofiev got
a commission for
the ballet The Joker
1914
As a single son
of a widow, Prokofiev
was exempt from
military service
MusicuM 2016
for his “business No 1.”