In Sunday’s (2/5) Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey), Ronni Reich writes, “Past the policeman and military guard keeping watch over the snow-flanked, beige-brick monolith and down the basement stairs, Simon Morrison discovered a faded, brittle manuscript that had languished here unseen for decades. In the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art five years ago, the Princeton University professor found a lost score by Sergei Prokofiev to a staged version of Alexander Pushkin’s verse novel ‘Eugene Onegin’—and a script by a virtually unknown author. Morrison, who has written a book about Prokofiev, describes the music of ‘Onegin’ as ‘the loveliest melodies’ that the ‘Peter and the Wolf’ composer ever wrote. … More than 100 members of the campus and community will be involved in nine days of events centered around the rediscovered work. … On Feb. 9, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra will play a complete rendering of the score under music director Rossen Milanov with members of the Princeton Ballroom Dance Club and 80 singers from the Princeton Glee Club. Rebecca Lazier, a dance instructor at the university, directs the movement, with additional choreography by Princeton alumna Sydney Schiff. The concert also will include a world premiere by the composer’s grandson, Gabriel Prokofiev.”
Posted February 6, 2012
