Background
The music derives from Prokofiev's opera The Fiery Angel. This opera had been accepted for performance in the 1927-28 season at the Berlin State Opera by Bruno Walter, but this production never materialised; in fact, the opera was never staged in Prokofiev's lifetime. Prokofiev, who had been working on the opera for years, was reluctant to let the music languish unperformed, and after hearing a concert performance of its second act given by Serge Koussevitzky in June 1928, he adapted parts of the opera to make his third symphony (shortly afterwards, he drew on his ballet The Prodigal Son for his Symphony No. 4 in similar fashion).
The symphony occupies a middle ground among Prokofiev's seven symphonies in terms of popularity, not as well known as the Symphony No. 1 (Classical), but not so neglected as the Symphony No. 2 or the first version of the Symphony No. 4. Champions of the symphony include Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Riccardo Chailly, and Michael Tilson Thomas, who substantially raised the symphony's popularity in the recent decade.
Prokofiev dedicated the symphony to Nikolai Myaskovsky.
Read more about this topic: Symphony No. 3 (Prokofiev)
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