Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1, 'Classical' / Symphony No. 5

Sergey Prokofiev belongs to the generation of Russian musicians who completed their studies before the Communist Revolution of 1917. His early education had been at home, where he had tuition from Glière, before entering the St. Petersburg Conservatory on the advice of Glazunov at the age of thirteen. For whatever reason, whether of character, age or as the only child of his parents, he was to prove a recalcitrant student, finding little to his taste either in the composition class of Lyadov or in the orchestration class of Rimsky-Korsakov, but meeting encouragement, at least, from Nikolay Myaskovsky and Boris Asaf'yev, fellow students nearer his own age.