Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953) returned to his native Russia in 1933, having established himself as one of the leading 20th century composer-pianists. His works include the ballet Romeo and Juliet and the music for Eisenstein's film Alexander Nevsky, and he remains one of the most performed and popular composers world-wide. Anthony Phillips learnt Russian in the 'Secret Classrooms' of National Service in the 1950s and later at Oxford. The language continued to play an important part during his later career in music administration, during which he became general manager of London's Royal Festival Hall. Story of a Friendship, his translation of Shostakovich's letters to Isaak Glikman, was published by Faber in 2000, and Anton Chekhov: A Life in Letters (with Rosamund Bartlett) by Penguin Classics in 2004.
