S. Prokofiev’s search for a plot reflects how broad his interests were: from biblical and cosmic themes to stories with symbolic characters from the world of music notation and ordinary objects. His creative concepts combine ancient mythologems, connotations to classical plots with swift, captivating development of action, with marks of the detective genre, with sharp dialogue and baffling finale (the so-called “point-ending”). His interest in Margaret Mitchell’s novel Gone with the Wind seems strange only at first glance. The novel’s motives seamlessly blend into contexts of the Prokofiev’s theater. Situations, scenes, some characters and even anticipated main dramatic moments of the Gone with the Wind can be found in Prokofiev’s theatrical works.
One of the archival findings of last years is the libretto titled Chess. Its plot originates from Queen of Spades and The Gambler and it accumulates themes of passion to win, sacrifice, madness and vengeance. Chess play itself forms the storyline in a great measure. In this way Prokofiev’s concept anticipates Nabokov’s novel Luzhin’s Defense. Chess affects the structure of the whole and the nature of conflict drivers. It becomes symbol of life, which constructs itself on the principle of chess play. The main motives of the plot are highly associative, they have rich background and various approaches for staging. The fantastic sphere of Chess follows romantic tradition and is inseparable from everyday life. The libretto’s draft suggests notable Prokofiev’s dramaturgy methods: contrasting inclusions, repeated sharp striking phrases, extra-musical and extra-textual devices for the enrichment of vocal speech.
Heartfelt thanks to Serge Prokofiev-junior for the permission to publish archival documents; to Svetlana A. Petukhova, Senior Research Fellow at the Music History Sector, the State Institute for Art Studies, Moscow
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