I have always loved The Love for Three Oranges since I was a medium-sized child. We played an arrangement of the march in our family orchestra; I now think of it as a very odd choice for such an extremely young and amateur group, but at the time it was just some music that I played, however badly. Any music I've played is music I can inhabit and music I hear differently, more intimately, for the rest of my life.

I have a fondness for Prokofiev in general. I cheerfully concede that Shostakovich was the greater composer, particularly if I've just heard them paired as they tend to be by the Seattle Symphony, but I like Prokofiev better. Perhaps it is his ability to smile, as you say.