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CSOA archivist Frank Villella and pianist Kirill Gerstein in the Rosenthal Archives vault
Kirill Gerstein, our guest pianist this week, in town to perform Sergei Prokofiev‘s Second Piano Concerto, visited the Rosenthal Archives for a tour and to view several items in our collections.
In addition to seeing several Prokofiev-related photographs and vintage program books, Gerstein also was very interested in materials relating to composer and pianist Ferruccio Busoni, who was a frequent soloist with the CSO between 1892 and 1915. He also spent some time carefully perusing an early edition of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto used by Theodore Thomas for the Orchestra’s inaugural concerts in October 1891; Hungarian pianist Rafael Joseffy was the soloist for those first concerts.
(The Archives is a popular place for performers of Prokofiev’s music: guest conductor Stéphane Denève visited in November 2011 when he was in Chicago to lead the Orchestra in a Suite from The Love for Three Oranges and the Second Violin Concerto with Leonidas Kavakos, and both conductor Sakari Oramo and pianist Yuja Wang visited in May 2013, when they performed the Third Piano Concerto.)
Prokofiev was soloist in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first performances of the Second Piano Concerto on February 28 and March 1, 1930. Assistant Conductor Eric DeLamarter conducted. After intermission the composer returned to conduct his ballet Le pas d’acier. On March 24, 1930, Prokofiev and his wife—soprano Lina Llubera—gave a recital at Orchestra Hall under the auspices of the Chicago Society for Cultural Relations with Russia.
February 28 and March 1, 1930
March 24, 1930
The composer’s program book biography from the February and March 1930 appearances
The back cover of the 1930 program book also contained two Prokofiev-related advertisements. The inside cover announced the upcoming release of the Boston Symphony Orchestra‘s recording of the Classical Symphony (Symphony no. 1) conducted by Serge Koussevitzky on Victor. The outside cover contained a endorsed advertisement for Lyon & Healy as a distributor of Steinway pianos: “When he composes or plays—Prokofieff uses Steinway.”
Yuja Wang as soloist in Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on April 3, 2013. Sakari Oramo conducts. (Todd Rosenberg photo)
A crew from Euronews‘s Musica program was in town this past April, filming a segment on the remarkable Chinese pianist Yuja Wang. Wang was in town for performances of Sergei Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto with Sakari Oramo conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Wang visited the Rosenthal Archives during her visit and had a chance to see materials relating to Prokofiev’s many visits with the CSO, including the world premiere performances of his Third Piano Concerto in December 1921. And in the Musica segment, several archival images are used and Wang gives the Archives a nice little shout-out.
The program for the world premiere of Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto with the composer as soloist and Frederick Stock conducting. The composer also conducted the first Chicago performances of his First Symphony.
Sergei Prokofiev’s program biography for the world premiere of his Third Piano Concerto in December 1921.
from the archives 