In 1931, after completing his Piano Concerto No. 4 for the left hand, Prokofiev conceived a new piano concerto, this time for both hands, and completed it in the summer of 1932.

During this period, Prokofiev was based in Paris. Soviet-era biographers often referred to this Parisian period as a "time of crisis," citing his own distressed words from a letter at the time, "I have no ideas!", and frequently treated it as a kind of "dark chapter" in Prokofiev's creative history. However, if we set aside the hindsight of "returning to the Soviet Union and succeeding" and ideological viewpoints that condemned Western European music outside the Soviet Union as "bourgeois products," it could be argued that this period was a time when he struggled to reconcile his own image and fame with his evolution as a composer, striving to transform himself through interactions with various composers during his life abroad and by using them as models or references. Regarding this point, we await the future development of research in musicology both within and outside Russia.

Although this concerto was composed during a period when the composer aimed for a direction he described as "new simplicity," the resulting work was, strangely enough, so complex that Prokofiev himself called it "terribly difficult," with various elements intertwined and condensed. A similar tendency can be observed in the Two Sonatinas for piano, completed in the same year as this work. Perhaps Prokofiev's own commitment to virtuosity as a pianist, or certain compositional habits, prevented him from moving towards "simplicity" during this period.

The premiere took place on October 31, 1932, in Berlin, with Furtwängler conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the composer himself as soloist. As it was a collaboration with the world-renowned Berlin Philharmonic, Prokofiev seems to have performed with a sense of determination, feeling he "had to approach it with spirit." Perhaps thanks to this, the premiere received some favorable reviews, despite criticism of it being "cold music." On the other hand, the reception within the Soviet Union was reportedly not favorable.

The overall structure of the work differs from that of a classical concerto, consisting of five movements: fast, slow, fast, slow, fast.

First Movement (Allegro con brio)

G major, 3/4 time.

It adopts a form akin to rondo-sonata, rather than the typical sonata form for a first movement.

The main theme presented at the beginning is an energetic but dissonant fanfare. The piano part sweeps across a wide range, dominating the space. The harmonic progression is based on triads with roots ascending by a fourth (G→C→F→B), creating a relatively simple sound. However, precisely because of the simple sound, the thrilling interplay between the solo piano and the orchestra is emphasized. This theme is sustained for a long time, interspersed with various musical ideas.

The episodes appearing between the themes are each short; just when one might think they are immersed in sweet lyricism, they are immediately pulled back to the energetic theme, and even when rhythms based on triplets appear, they are drawn back into the dotted rhythm of the fanfare.

In the section corresponding to the development, fragments of the theme and episodes appear one after another, ultimately leading the listener to a climax at the return of the theme in the recapitulation. Subsequently, the movement concludes with a very brief coda, while firmly retaining the fanfare elements.

Second Movement (Moderato ben accentuato)

C major, 4/4 time. It serves as a scherzo movement.

It has a structure based on ternary form. The first theme of the main section is march-like. To a steady rhythmic pulse marked by wind instruments and drums, the piano repeatedly plays ascending figures with glissandos and arpeggios. In the second theme, the time signature changes to a skipping 12/8. The combination of short and long note values creates a lightness different from the opening section. The middle section features bold leaps in range and alternation between 4/4 and 12/8 time signatures. The return of the theme is boldly truncated, and the two themes proceed in unison, quickly bringing the movement to a close.

Third Movement, Toccata (Allegro con fuoco)

G major, 3/4 time.

In addition to the tempo marking, there is an instruction meaning "slightly faster than the beginning." "The beginning" refers to the First Movement. This instruction is given because a theme from the First Movement is repurposed in this movement, indicating a change in character.

The piano continuously rushes throughout the movement, with the orchestra providing accompaniment and secondary melodic flourishes. As a toccata, the tempo is moderate, and there are few virtuosic passages for the piano, but the repeatedly emphasized f (forte) and accent markings give the piece an unusual power.

Fourth Movement (Larghetto)

B-flat major, 2/4 time, a slow movement in ternary form.

A melancholic lullaby serves as the main theme of the principal section, bringing rich shadows amidst the overall brilliance and sparkle of the work. Conversely, the middle section regains the momentum of the preceding movements, presenting rapid arpeggios of triads reminiscent of the First Movement, ultimately developing into a cadenza with a leisurely tempo and wide range. After a fantastical transition section with scalar passages in the piano, the theme is briefly recapitulated.

Fifth Movement (Vivo)

B-flat minor, 2/2 time. It is structured as a condensed sonata form, incorporating a wide variety of materials. Soviet musicologist Blok likened the bustling appearance and disappearance of various themes in this movement to "crowd scenes in Prokofiev's ballets, such as the folk dances in Romeo and Juliet or the market scene in The Tale of the Stone Flower."

The opening key of B-flat minor follows from the final note, B-flat, of the slow movement. The first theme begins with suspicious low notes, while simultaneously carrying a dissonant fanfare in the background, as if regenerating the mood of the First Movement. The second theme begins in a simple C major but then shifts through various keys, becoming somewhat elusive. These two themes are repeated, then move into the development section. After the development, a mysterious transition section with a B minor scale leads into the coda. A bouncy rhythm, like a gavotte, gradually accelerates, themes appear fragmentarily, and the work concludes festively.