Translators, Orlando Figes, and Anthony Briggs.
Resources for Prokofiev's War and Peace
Among Prokofiev’s operas, only Love for Three Oranges enjoys more popularity outside Russia than War and Peace. But there haven’t been terribly many performances — the most recent is the Opera Bastille DVD from 2000. The two outings at the Met (2002 and 2007) weren’t recorded and one must go to YouTube to hear current standouts like Anna Netrebkho and Dmitri Hvorostovsky.
YouTube Video
I have added a few of these videos at the bottom of this page.
DVDs and CDs
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An electronic edition readable on Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader.
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Gary Bertini conducts this Opera Bastille production, directed by Francesca Zembello. Natasha: Olga Guriakova, Prince Andrei: Nathan Gunn, Pierre: Robert Brubaker.
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A 1993 Kirov production, with understandably cheapo sets, times being what they were. In the first half, the lighting is terrible! However, it’s the only DVD conducted by Gergiev and not much is cut out of Part 2.
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From the 1999 Spoleto Festival, conducted by Richard Hickox and performed by ENO artists.
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Rostropovich conducts the only cut-free recording, with late-career performances by Galina Vishnevskaya (Natasha) and Nicolai Gedda (Kuragin) among the standout singers. Nicola Ghiuselev is an excellent Kutuzov.
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A wonderful performance with many cuts, mostly of the patriotic stuff in Part 2. Alexander Melik-Pashayev conducts this 1961 Bolshoi effort featuring Galina Vishnevskaya in her prime as Natasha and a sadly unsung (in the west) Russian lyric baritone by the name of Evgeny Kibalko as a definitive Prince Andrei.
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Souvenier playbill from the Met’s 2002 production.
Click to View on Amazon