Concerning the Question of Interpretation of Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Compositions

Abstract

In this article an analysis of performing interpretations of Prokofiev’s piano compositions is carried out from the positions of a hermeneutical approach. Interpretation is examined as a means of existence for the musical composition demanding an active creative co-participation of the performer in the recreation of the composer’s artistic conception. Special importance is attributed to the question of the boundaries of interpretation: the necessity of penetration into the innermost semantic strata of the performed composition, the aspiration towards the comprehension of the composer’s conception and the infeasibility of willful treatment of the musical text. The notion is elaborated on that the character of interpretation, its adequacy and convincing qualities depend not only on the musician’s professional level, but also on the magnitude and significance of the personality of the performer. The assertion is made that the analysis of various interpretations of any particular musical composition makes it possible not only to define the performer’s spiritual reference points and value preferences, but also the spiritual atmosphere of the society in which he or she is artistically active, as well as the demand for certain moods or meanings which the composer’s music conveys. The presumption is expressed that the active interest in the music of Prokofiev on the part of performers is stipulated by the character of the intense historical situation in the world creating the feelings of alarm and blight: in Prokofiev’s music especially attractive for musicians are the aspiration towards light, self-assuredness and optimism. The renditions of the piano compositions by Svyatoslav Richter, Maria Grinberg, Emil Gilels, Marta Argerich, Nikolai Petrov, as well as by contemporary pianists, Andrei Gavrilov, Evgeny Kisin, Daniil Trifonov and Grigory Sokolov. Keywords: Sergei Prokofiev, piano compositions, performer’s interpretation, composer’s conception.