Summary: Prokofiev: Man of the People? is the London Philharmonic Orchestra's January 2012 festival. Fourteen events over 20 days expore one of the most misunderstood men in 20th-century music. Vladimir Jurowski is the festival's Artistic Director. In this interview he introduces Prokofiev, puts his music in the context of the political events of the early 20th century, explores his diaries and reveals the strange history of the new version of Ivan the Terrible to be performed on 28 January. 'In my view, the composer, just as the poet, the sculptor or the painter, is in duty bound to serve Man, the people. He must beutify human life and defend it. He must be a citizen first and foremost, so that his art might conscionsly extol human life and lead man to a radiant future. Such is the immutable code of art as I see it.' Sergei Prokofiev
