麻豆约拍

On the 5th March 1953 Sergei Prokofiev died after suffering a stroke in his home a few blocks from Moscow鈥檚 Red Square. Fifty five minutes later it was announced that Joseph Stalin was also dead. As news of Stalin鈥檚 death spread thousands of mourners flocked to the Red Square and for three days Prokofiev鈥檚 family couldn鈥檛 transport his body to the Soviet Composer鈥檚 Union Headquarters, where his funeral would take place. When his body finally arrived at the union hall, no musicians could be found to play at his funeral because they were all required to perform at Stalin鈥檚 state funeral and adjoining ceremonies. Every florist in town was contracted to provide flowers for Stalin鈥檚 funeral, so the family made do with paper flowers and played a recorded version of Prokofiev鈥檚 funeral march from the ballet of Romeo and Juliet.

As the 60th anniversary of these events approaches, Tom talks to musicologist Gerard McBurney and pianist Katia Skanavi about Prokofiev鈥檚 relationship with the Stalinist regime, and how the coincidence of their deaths still impacts the composer鈥檚 reputation today.

Broadcast March 2013.