As far as I can see, there's no way to find works by an artist by giving it an artist alias. That means, for example, that http://musicbrainz.org/ws/2/work?query=work:symphony+AND+artist:%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%84%D1%8C%D0%B5%D0%B2&limit=30&offset=0 works, but http://beta.musicbrainz.org/ws/2/work?query=work:symphony+AND+artist:prokofiev&limit=30&offset=0 (which I'd expect is a more common query) does not.

The BBC has also asked for something like this, for what it's worth