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  Best Historical Research in Recorded Classical Music, Certificate of Merit

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  Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award 2025

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  Christina Guillaumier takes us on an exciting musical journey sharing the highs and lows of this well-known beloved master of the twentieth century. The tragedy of Prokofiev's life plus his indomitable spirit and joyous music-making create a poignant tale that needs to be heard.

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  Barbara Nissman

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  Like Prokofiev’s finest, most popular works, Guillaumier’s biography is accessible, economical, devoid of jargon and free of generalizations about his life as a Soviet composer.

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  Simon Morrison, author of The People’s Artist: Prokofiev’s Soviet Years

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  In this brilliantly insightful biography, leading Prokofiev academic Christina Guillaumier combines her deep understanding of Sergei Prokofiev’s life and works with the most up-to-date research, including primary sources (such as his personal diaries and letters in the Sergei Prokofiev Archive) that were unavailable to previous biographers. Guillaumier successfully challenges many of the accepted assumptions that have been made about him, producing perhaps the most nuanced and accurate biography to date. I strongly recommend this rigorously researched book to anyone interested in learning more about my often-misunderstood grandfather.

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  Gabriel Prokofiev

A Note on Transliteration
Introduction: Prokofiev and Russia
1 The Road to Petersburg
2 Coming of Age
3 Scythian on Tour: Early Travels and Beyond
4 Transitional Years
5 The Search for a New Freedom
6 Happiness and War
7 1948 and Its Consequences

References
Bibliography
Discography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements

Christina Guillaumier is Research Fellow and Reader in Music and Cultural Practice at the Royal College of Music, London, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her books include The Operas of Sergei Prokofiev (2020).