Sergey Prokofiev diaries: 1 - 30 June 1921

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

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text excerpt

Two days later, on rhw 11th, Chout was on again, but this time I asked Ansermet to conduct while I sat in the house like a lord, listening. Before Chout I conducted a performance of the 'Classical' Symphony, which was well but not sensationally received, and then sat in a box with Stravinsky listening to Chout. Our box was in a rather prominent position, so the whole audience was goggling at us.

Hearing Chout from a box in the auditorium was an experience ten times more pleasant than from the conductor's rostrum. Everything sounded much more beautiful - literally more beautiful. Also, it was the first time I had heard the trumpets and trombones play loudly enough, that is to say at the volume I intended. From where the conductor stands, for example, I had never heard, or more precisely could barely hear, the trombone theme among the general tumult of the final dance. Perhaps there was too much cantabile in the first violins? But I love this cantabile. Another thing was that I saw for the first time what was happening on stage; when conducting, I could cast only the occasional worried glance at it. As a spectacle I found it interesting, with many marvellous ideas, but also much that had not been fully worked out, and places where the movement did not correspond with the music. A bit of remedial work wouldn't hurt, if only for next season.

excerpt from 'Sergey Prokofiev diaries: 1 - 30 June 1921' pp. 608 (240 words)

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