Sergei Prokofiev
PRINCIPAL CAST
Conductor: Gianandrea Noseda
Natasha: Irina Mataeva
Sonya: Ekaterina Semenchuk
Mme. Akhrosimova: Larisa Shevchenko
Count Bezukhov: Alexei Steblianko
Prince Andrei: Vasili Ladyuk
Napoleon: Vassily Gerello
Kutuzov: Mikhail Kit
PRODUCTION TEAM
Production: Andrei Konchalovsky
Set Designer: George Tsypin
Costume Designer: Tatiana Noginova
Lighting Designer: James F. Ingalls
Projection Designer: Elaine McCarthy
Associate Set Designer: Eugene Monakhov
Choreographer: Sergei Gritsai
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – (December 28, 2007) The Metropolitan Opera’s Colossal War & Peace was the talk of New York – and the opera world – for weeks now. With a cast that dwarfs even the largest Aida, battle scenes, love and plenty of nationalism it was quite a show they put on at Lincoln Center.
The cast was led over the trenches of Porkofiev’s score by Gianandrea Noseda. While the orchestra got off to a sluggish start, they soon picked up the energy of the singers and by the end of the first act they were on fire.
Baritone Vasili Ladyuk made a fine Prince Andrei, the opera’s obvious hero. His monologue began the evening, and set the tone of Tolstoy’s epic. He was believable as he sang the difficult part and expressed his disillusion with life…and he performed the latter part of the scene with a new vocal color as he spoke of the love ignited in him by the radiant Natasha.
Soprano Irina Mataeva’s Natasha was also excellent. The singing actress became the young woman who’s life would be so changed by war. The character was changed by the destruction and death she witnessed in the war and Miss Metaeva expressed this excellently with her sweet silver tone.
Count Pierre Bezukhov, performed by Alexei Steblianko is also worth mentioning. The baritone funny, and lovable, the less obvious…but true hero of the work. In Tolstoy’s version the reader learns that after all is passed Natasha and Pierre end up together, happy and they grow old and have a family. Steblianko’s singing was so ernest as to bring tears to the eyes.
The true highlight of the evening came late, with bass Mikhail Kit’s Kutuzov. His portrayal of the Russian General who finally defeated Napoleon and France, but only after sacrificing Moscow was incredible. He was a defeated man as he sang about leaving Moscow behind – for any American like leaving New York to a foreign military force – in order to fight on another day. The audience reacted to his singing as it brought them into the General’s world.
There were other fine performances that evening notably that of Vassily Gerello’s Napoleon. The tenor who performed Count Anatol Kuragin did not impress.
The sets were stunning, large and functional. They worked on a turntable and a large mound built on stage. In the beginning, the peace section, the floor is beautiful inlaid wood and is perfect for the large ball scene. In the ball the costume’s were fine and expensive looking. The Entrance of the Czar couldn’t have been better. As the act progressed, and war came closer cracks appeared in the floor exposing the rotten layer beneath.
When the first act finally ended, the chorus appeared bringing news of the invasion of Russia. The mob came forward and sang one of the most glorious scenes in all of opera. It was inspiring to anyone, as they sang of one Russia rising up to crush the invaders from the West.
The second act was the opposite of the first, the inlaid floor had been removed and only rotten earth remained. It was here that the battles were fought, complete with guns, explosions and bodies. This opera rivaled Coppola’s Apocalypse Now when Napoleon appeared on a wall of the dead. Cannon Fodder is the word that comes to mind. Tolstoy would have appreciated the symbolism.
Natasha and Andrei’s final scene together was touching, as the danced as the once had. In the end he was consumed with the pain of his wound and could think of nothing else. As our hero died Natasha, who was forgiven for her betrayal of him cried bitterly.
The largest departure from the novel was the opera’s nationalistic ending. The Russians sang and they stacked captured French Flags at the feet of General Kutuzov and waved Yellow banners of the Czar. Tolstoy focus of the characters and how they hated war and family and love was all they had left.
The Metropolitan had a triumph with this opera.
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