Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26

“To the World President of Music […] To Prokofiev,” this is how the communist poet Mayakovsky called the Russian composer (as found in a copy of his book The War and the World dated 1918), and although Prokofiev opposed the various movements of his time, both artistic and political, he is surely a child of 20th-century Russia. His music brings together all aspects of the last century, both confidence in the future and existentialism, nostalgia for the good old times and mysticism (V. Buttino, 2000). His Slavic soul is also present in the Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26, the third of five piano concertos by Prokofiev. In fact, the musical themes of this work are borrowed from Russian popular melodies, combining some dissonances typical of the early century with an opulent yet bright orchestration. The resultant work is truly unique and singular! “The cardinal virtue of my life has always been the search for originality. I hate imitation. I hate hackneyed methods. I do not want to wear anyone else’s mask. I want to always be myself,” affirmed Prokofiev.