Serge Prokofiev and Eugene Szenkar: The First Performance of the Russian Overture Op. 72 in Eretz Israel

Abstract

There is a lot that is unknown and inexplicable in Prokofiev’s life and music. This unique composer, with his unique fate, inspires us to search in the archives for answers to a number of troubling questions. One of these archives is the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (henceforth RGALI)—the largest collection of the composer’s works, containing more than 2,500 items. While looking through the contents of the archive, I accidentally came across one of Prokofiev’s notebooks, to which researchers have had free access. These contained annotated programs from the performances of Prokofiev’s works (from September 1935 until 18 February 1953), among them a 1938 performance by the Palestine Orchestra in Tel-Aviv.