The Giant

The Giant (, Velikan) is an opera in three acts by Sergei Prokofiev. The 12 page work was written for performance by the nine-year-old composer's family. Composition history In 1899, at the age of eight, Prokofiev, who had already evinced remarkable musical abilities and had composed some piano pieces, was taken by his parents to Moscow, where he heard opera for the first time, (including Alexander Borodin's Prince Igor and Charles Gounod's Faust). Keen to write an opera of his own, he wrote out a libretto in three acts and six scenes. With the help of his mother, the music he devised for this was transcribed. The plot was elaborated from the children's games he played with his friends Egorka and Stenya, whose names are preserved in those of the characters. In the following year, the first act of the opera was given a premiere by the family at the estate of one of Prokofiev's uncles near Kaluga, with his aunt Tatiyana taking the title part, and the composer and his cousins taking the other leading roles. There is no record of further performances. Roles Synopsis