Sean reminds me of Bertini...well, this time no Mahler...Prokofiev War and
Peace at Bastille(ofRalphfame)performance...Beware,CUTs.
About War and Peace by Bertini,Marc Musnick wrote:
I had heard so much praise about this production that perhaps my expectations were too high but I was disappointed. This performance in no way replaces the fine Kirov version, which of course is idiomatic and has more soul musically and is more dramatically inventive. I know this opera very well and it is one my favorites. The Bastille performance is cut and since it is trimed, why was the overture cut? I doubt adding a few extra minutes to the first act would have been such a big deal. Someone complained that the Kirov production was too minimalistic and yet this one is also sparse.
But one of the outstanding things about this performance is the Natasha of the wonderful Russian soprano Olga Gurakova. For me, her performance alone made the purchase worth the price. The first act is really about Natasha and Gurakova carries it brilliantly. Handsome Nathan Gunn is just right as Andrei and he catches the character's melencholy moodiness perfectly. Their reunion in the second half is heartbreaking. Gurakova's reaction at being reunited with him speaks volumes and she literally kisses his feet. This might sound over the top but in Gurakova's hands, it seems spontaneous and "in the moment". I want to see more of this wonderful soprano.
Too bad a video was not made of the Metropolitan Opera's production which was a joint venture with the Kirov and neither of the two available DVDs replaced my memories of that production. Anna Netrebko was a brilliant Natasha, this was long before she became a media darling, so her performance was a complete surprise to me. Hunky Hvorostovsky was a wonderful Andrei, and surpassed Gunn vocally with his elegant phrasing, richer and darker voice and endless legato singing. But Gunn's performance was better dramatically. The production was so cinematic that I never felt the length and it was complete enough that each half was approximately two hours. Again the overture was cut and for some reason it was decided to cut Natasha's attempted suicide, but it was one of the most amazing theatrical experiences of my life. The spectacle was overwhelming. When Moscow burned, it literally burned on the stage of the Met. When Neopolian retreated in the middle of a blizzard, that scene really looked like a blizzard on the stage of the Met. The Met's magnificent orchestra was at it's best and that fine chorus almost had me believing they were Russian. And it was easy for the audience to relate to this nationalistic opera because only a few months before the run the 9/11 terrorist attacks occured.
Well, anyway, I obviously was not bowled over by the Bastille's production and I recommend the Kirov's DVD for a performance that is totally Russian and has much more soul than it's French counterpart.
At Old OperaNews
Richard Burke wrote:
More than half a century after its completion, Prokofiev’s War and Peace finally seems to be getting the attention it deserves. There have been not only a number of recent productions around the world but the simultaneous appearance of two DVDs, one from the Kirov Opera, the other from Opéra Bastille. The Russian performance, however, is the one from 1991 released some years ago on VHS, a minimalist production, consisting of simple, often abstract sets and attractive period costumes. A large painted tree serves as a backdrop to a pair of plain white flats, each providing sets of double doors through which the cast enters and exits. These movable walls work best when suggesting the various interiors of Part I; by the time we get to Part II, the novelty has worn off, and the walls begin to look like a line of commercial storage bins, a look not helped by director Graham Vick’s penchant for dull work-lighting in some spots. Still, the director has chosen to tell the story in a clear, straightforward manner, and the crowd scenes, in particular, are very effective. The ballroom scene in Part I is beautifully staged and splendidly danced — even Natasha and Andrei join in.
The Paris Opera production from 2000 is quite lavish by comparison. The sets in Part I are not elaborate, but they are rich and colorful and immediately evoke the luxurious lifestyle of the Russian aristocracy. In Part II, the battle scenes are darkly vivid, with a striking use of color and light. Francesca Zambello has directed the splendid cast in a nicely detailed performance. The transitions between the scenes are smooth and imaginative. Her decision to have Natasha and Pierre embrace in the final scene is moving and dramatically satisfying, and it is certainly justified by the novel if not actually called for in the libretto.
Musically both productions are quite strong. Gergiev is one of the great Prokofiev interpreters of our time. He understands precisely how to pace this richly varied music, and the Kirov orchestra responds with playing of great color and, often, impressive power. Bertini’s is an intelligent performance, a bit more willful perhaps, as in the great waltz in Part I, where he begins very slowly, suddenly picking up the tempo for no apparent reason. Both Yelena Prokina for the Kirov and Olga Guryakova for Paris understand and convey Natasha’s passionate spontaneity. Prokina has the prettier voice of the two, but both are youthful and attractive and are quite moving in Andrei’s death scene. Although Alexander Gergalov, in the Kirov version, is a fine singing actor, Nathan Gunn, in the Paris cast, is the perfect Prince Andrei, dashing and noble in appearance, with a warm, communicative voice to match. Robert Brubaker (in Paris) sings beautifully and emphasizes the vulnerable, likable aspects of Pierre, but Gegam Grigorian for the Kirov brings an informed intensity to the role that clarifies much of the character’s behavior. I often wondered why Pierre would so easily take back his impassioned denunciation of Kuragin after his attempted seduction of Natasha. Grigorian’s sarcastic delivery of his apology to Kuragin makes perfect sense. Kutuzov, whose scenes are musically crucial to Part II, is sung very well by Nikolai Okhotnikov for the Kirov, but Anatoli Kotcherga, for Paris, gives an even more stirring reading of the Field Marshal’s big number.
Gergiev performs everything in the published score, including the overture and the problematic choral epilogue, which is played at the opening of Act II. In the Paris performance, there are quite a few minor cuts in Part I and a number of major ones in Part II. Wisely chosen, these excisions help make the final moments of the work more concise and direct. Still, some wonderful music is omitted in the process. The overture is also dropped, but the choral epilogue is there. Its placement at the end of Part I, right on the heels of Pierre’s response to the news that the French have entered Moscow, is very effective.
With excellent sound on both recordings (there are stage noises, of course), it would be hard to choose a favorite. For textual fidelity and a powerful musical reading, the Kirov can be highly recommended. For a beautifully realized staging of the work, however, the Paris Opera is a clear winner. The latter includes a documentary on the making of the performance. It is, at nearly eighty minutes, a little long, but it does show the extraordinary efforts that go into mounting a work of such magnitude.
...)
Nobody loves happy Christie,at least 
with envy?
