Sergei Prokofiev: A Biography

Rating:
Summary: Well worth reading
Review: Harlow Robinson's book is excellent; well worth reading. He strikes the right balance between the composer's personal charateristics and the body of his musical creation. The book is rich in detail, yet to-the-point; it is objective, yet reflects the complexity of this sometimes very unpleasant genius. It is perfectly comprehensible for the interested non-expert who has invested a good deal of time listening to Prokofiev's music, and seeing his movies, ballets and operas. As a Russian speaker familiar with every day speech and everyday life in the Soviet Union, I can say that Mr Robinson has a keen understanding of that culture, right down to having a very fine ear for transliterations. The composer is the Beethoven of the twentieth century: the one who has created the musical language which is so much a part of us that we take it for granted. Robinson brings us the man and the mind behind that language.

Rating:
Summary: Well worth reading
Review: Harlow Robinson's book is excellent; well worth reading. He strikes the right balance between the composer's personal charateristics and the body of his musical creation. The book is rich in detail, yet to-the-point; it is objective, yet reflects the complexity of this sometimes very unpleasant genius. It is perfectly comprehensible for the interested non-expert who has invested a good deal of time listening to Prokofiev's music, and seeing his movies, ballets and operas. As a Russian speaker familiar with every day speech and everyday life in the Soviet Union, I can say that Mr Robinson has a keen understanding of that culture, right down to having a very fine ear for transliterations. The composer is the Beethoven of the twentieth century: the one who has created the musical language which is so much a part of us that we take it for granted. Robinson brings us the man and the mind behind that language.

Rating:
Summary: Too lightweight to be informative!
Review: I read this book when it first appeared some ten years ago, having already read the older books by Victor Seroff et al.; indeed Robinson's book does somewhat fill a lack in the English literature, but it is extremely superficial and "written-down" (i.e. dumbed-down) for a presumably unsophisticated public. One can write intelligent biographies without being dry and academic (e.g. Viktoria Schweitzer's book on the poet Marina Tsvetaeva); it isn't necessary to write down as much as Robinson does. Thus this book is neither very subtle in its judgments of the music nor very penetrating on P. as an individual. Robinson claims to be "above" the old Cold War partisan positions about Prok's pre-Stalinist vs. Socialist Realist work, but he simply blurs over the problems with banalities, rather than thinking them through. Too chatty and shallow. Disappointing!

Rating:
Summary: Too glib and superficial to be informative!
Review: I read this book when it first appeared some ten years ago, having read much of the other work on P. (books by Israel Nestyev, Victor Seroff, etc.). Indeed there is a lack of good literature on P. in English. Unfortunately, Robinson's book is sadly written-down and dumbed-down for a sub-TIME-Magazine reading public. It is not necessary to do so to write a good, readable, un-academic biography (compare the superb bio of poet Marina Tsvetaeva by Viktoria Schweitzer). So this book wasted a fine opportunity: its evaluations of both life and works are simplistic. Robinson claims to be "above" the ideological divisions of Cold War Prokofiev scholarship (e.g. pre-Stalinist vs. Socialist Realist Prokofiev), but he does not engage this problem at all, at least not in any thoughtful way, and blurs over it with bland cheery platitudes. Disappointing!

Rating:
Summary: A core addition to Music History supplemental reading lists
Review: Sergei Prokofiev: A Biography by Harlow Robinson (Professor of Modern Languages and History, Northeastern University) is an exhaustive, detailed, scholarly, and documented account of the life, times, inspiration, and personal history of acclaimed Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953). A handful of black-and-white photographs and a brand new foreword and afterword by author Harlow Robinson enhance this reprint of the most thorough Prokofiev biography to be found in the English language to date. A superbly written, insightfully informated, and ighly recommended for anyone with a keen interest in the evolution of individual musical greatness as reflected in the life and work of a seminal European composer, Sergei Prokofiev is a core addition to any Music History supplemental reading lists and academic reference collections.