DCCLXXVIII. PROKOFIEV, Sergei (1891-1953)
War and Peace, Op. 91
1. Overture (4:59)
2. Svetloye vesenneye nebo (The radiance of the sky in spring) (11:03)
3. Khor! Pust nachinayet khor! (Chorus! Let the chorus begin!) (19:56)
4. Nevesta molodogo knyazya (The young Prince's fiancée) (11:01)
5. Moya prelestnaya, ocharavatelnaya (The charming, delightful Natasha!) (10:09)
6. Vecherom v desyat chasov ona budet zhdat (At ten o'clock in the evening she'll be waiting (10:22)
7. Oy, barïshnya, golubushka, kazhis (Oh, my dear Miss Natasha, all is lost) (8:23)
8. Eto samïy rasseyannïy i smeshnoy chelovek (He may be the most muddle-headed man and people may laugh at him) (12:30)
9. Padumayte, grafinya, priyekhal ya s pozdrovleniyem (Picture the scene, Countess. I called to convey my greetings) (10:53)
10. Epigraph: Silï dvunadesyati yazïkov Yevropï vorvalis v Rossiyu (The forces of twelve European nations have invaded Russia) (4:59)
11. Poshla, rebyata! (Come on, lads!) (32:02)
12. Vino otkuporeno (The wine is uncorked) (10:22)
13. Itak, gospoda, vïgodney li nam srazitsya pred Moskvoyu (And so, gentlemen, the question is: would it be to our advantage (7:21)
14. Mech nam i plamen nesut nepriyateli (The enemy bears down on us) (10:51)
15. Moskva pusta! (Moscow's deserted!) (32:13)
16. Tyanetsya, vse tyanetsya (It's stretching higher and further (13:25)
17. Korabli sozhzheril ... (We've burnt our bridges ...) (20:25)
Alexander Gergalov, Prince Andrei Bolkonski
Lyudmila Kanunnikova, Princess Maria Bolkonskaya, his sister
Vladimir Ognovenko, Prince Nikolai Bolkonski, his father/Matveyev
Elena Prokina, Countess Natalya Rostova (Nathasha)
Sergei Aleksashkin, Count Ilya Rostov, her father/General Benigsen/Captain Rambal
Svetlana Volkova, Sonia, her cousin
Gegam Grigorian, Count Pyotr (Pierre) Bezukhov
Olga Borodina, Countess Helena Bezuhova, his wife
Yuri Marusin, Prince Anatol Kuragin, her brother
Alexander Morozov, Lieutenant Dolokhov, Anatol's friend
Irina Bogacheva, Maria Akhorrimova, a Moscovite lady
Evgenia Tselovalnik, Madame Peronskaya
Nikolai Okhotnikov, Field-Marshal Kutuzov
Ivan Volodin, General Barclay de Tolly
Mikhail Chernozhukov, General Yermolov
Georgy Zastavny, General Rayevski
Nikolai Gassiev, General Konovnitsyn/Adjutant to Prince Eugêne/Gérard
Mikhail Kit, Vasska Denissov
Evgeny Boitsov, First Staff Officer/Ivanov
Yuri Laptev, Second Staff Officer/Jacquot/Métivier
Igor Shpagin, First German General/A Voice Offstage
Mikhail Bulatov, Second German General
Igor Yan, Prince Andrei Bolkonski's Orderly/Adjutant to General Compans/A Young Factory Worker
Yuri Zhikalov, Kutuzov's Adjutant/Lieutenant Bonnet/Footman of the ball
Vassily Gerello, Napoléon Bonaparte
Andrei Khramtsov, Marshal Berthier/Gavrila
Gennady Bezubenkov, Marshal Davout/Balaga
Vlacheslav Trofimov, General Belliard
Mikhail Yegorov, Monsieur de Beausset/Host of the ball/A French abbé
Grigory Karasev, Adjutant to Napoleon's retinue/A French officer/The Bolkonskis' valet
Maria Gortsevskaya, Adjutant to Marshall Murat
Evgeny Fedotov, Tikhon Chtcherbaty/The Bolkonskis' old footman
Andrey Karabanov, Fyodor
Olga Markova-Mikhailenko, Vasilissa/Matriocha
Slava Fomin, Trishka
Vladimir Solodovnikov, Platon Karataiev
Vladimir Kniazev, First Madman
Alexander Shubin, Second Madman
Elena Gulyayeva, First French Actress
Julia Chazanova, Second French Actress
Evgenia Perlasova, A Shopkeeper
Tatiana Filimonova, The Bolkonskis' housemaid
Anna Kovaleva, Dunyasha, Natasha's maid
Lyudmila Filatova, Mavra Kuzminichna
Kirov Opera and Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre
Valery Gergiev, cond.
The opera was first performed two months after Prokofiev's death.
**
Part 1 (Peace)
Andrei, who is a guest there, is depressed by the loss of his wife. Natasha, who also cannot sleep,looks out of her window and tells Sonya how beautiful the garden looks in the moonlight, and Andrei recovers his spirits.
Scene 2: New Year's Eve, 1810
At a ball in St. Petersburg attended by the Tsar, Pierre encourages Andrei, who is attracted to Natasha, to ask her to dance. Anatole, also attracted to her, asks Hélène to arrange an introduction.
Scene 3: Town hours of Prince Nikolai, February 1812
Count Rostov and Natasha visit Prince Nikolai's home. He is the father of Andrei, to whom she is engaged. Andrei has been abroad for a year. Princess Marya indicates that her father will not see them, and Count Rostov departs. However, the Prince, dressed eccentrically and behaving boorishly, does appear, and Natasha realises that he does not approve of the marriage.
Scene 4: Pierre's Moscow house, May 1812
Hélène tells Natasha that Anatole is attracted to her, and, after some hesitation, Natasha hears his declaration of love and agrees to meet him.
Scene 5: Dolokhov's apartment, 12 June 1812
Dolokhov has made arrangements for his friend Anatole's elopement with Natasha. The coach-driver Balaga, Dolokhov and Anatole drink to the escapade and to the latter's mistress Matriosha.
Scene 6: Later that night
Natasha discovers that Sonya has given away her secret to Madame Akhrosimova, with whom they are staying. Anatole and Dolokhov are sent away by Gavrila, and Akhrosimove reduces Natasha to tears. Pierre arrives, reveals that Anatole is married, and agrees to ask Andrei to forgive Natasha. He shyly admits that he himself would want to marry her if he were free. Natasha takes poison off-stage and rushes back on stage in great agitation to confess this face to Sonya.
Scene 7: Later still
Hélène is entertaining Anatole, Metivier and an Abbé. Pierre, returning home, upbraids Anatole and demands that he leave Moscow immediately. He agrees, and Pierre is left alone to bemoan his own circumstances. Denisov arrives with the news that Napoleon and his army are crossing into Russia. War is inevitable.
Part 2 (War)
Scene 8: Near Borodino, 25 August 1812
Amid preparations for the defence of Moscow, Andrei and Denisov discuss utilising partisans to make life difficult for Napoleon's army. Pierre, wanting to observe the scene, arrives, and he and Andrei embrace, perhaps for the last time. Field-Marshal Kutuzov offers Andrei a position on his staff, but Andrei prefers to go into battle with his own regiment. The battle starts.
Scene 9: Later that day
Napoleon ponders his position, first refusing to commit more men, then agreeing. An unexploded cannonball lands at his feet and he kicks it away.
Scene 10: Two days later
Kutuzov and his generals are holding a Council of War at Fili, near Smolensk. The army will be at risk if Moscow is to be defended to the last -- but if the army retreats, Moscow will be at the mercy of the French. Kutuzov decides that only by retreating, and potentially sacrificing Moscow, will there be any hope of victory.
Scene 11: Moscow is burning
The city is on fire because its citizens try to avoid a surrender. Pierre is caught up among some Muscovites, including veteran Platon Karataev, who are accused by the French of fire-raising. As the asylum and theatre burn, lunatics and actresses flee -- but Napoleon has to admit that the courage of the people has frustrated his plans.
Scene 12: In a peasant's hut at Mitishchi
The wounded Prince Andrei, delirious, has been evacuated with the Rostovs from Moscow. Natasha, who had been unaware that he was among her fellow evacuees, visits him. She tries to apologise for her conduct, but he again declares his love for her, and they sing of their happiness as Natasha reassures him that he will live. He falls asleep, and his heartbeat (conveyed by an offstage chorus) stops for ever.
Scene 13: November, 1812
On the road to Smolensk, the retreating French are escorting a group of prisoners through a snowstorm. Karataev cannot keep up and is shot, but Pierre and the others are rescued by the partisans. Denisov tells Pierre that Andrei is dead but that Natasha is alive and well. Kutuzov and his men rejoice in their victory, and celebrate the indomitable will of the Russian people.
**
French production in Russian; no subtitles
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