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War and Peace
(Krieg und Frieden: Oper in 13 Bildern) (1941/52)Libretto by the composer and Mira Mendelson, after the novel by Leo Tolstoy (R,E)
lyrdramS,S,lowS,6M,4C,dramT,T,2highT,comicT,lowT,T(or Bar),hBar,hBar
(or B),6Bar,2Bar(or B),3BBar,3hB,10B,lowB,2speakers,6silent roles;
chorus
11 scene version:
2.picc.2.corA.2.bcl.2.dbn-4.3.3.1-timp.perc:tgl/tamburo di legno/tamb/SD/cyms/BD/tam-t/glsp/xyl-hp-str
13 scene version:
2.picc.2.corA.2.bcl.2.dbn-4.3.3.1-timp.perc:tgl/tamburo di legno/tamb/SD/cyms/BD/tam-t/glsp/xyl-harp-str
Scenes 7 and 11 of the 13 scene version do not appear in the 11 scene version.
Abbreviations (PDF)
VAAP
Moscow
Conductor: Samuil Samosud
Company: USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Moscow
Conductor: Alexander Sharverdov
Company: Stanislavsky Opera Theatre
Leningrad
Conductor: Samuil Samosud
Company: Maly Opera Theatre
Leningrad
Conductor: Eduard Grikurov
Company: Leningrad State Academy Maly Opera Theatre
PRINCE ANDREI BOLKONSKY | Baritone |
NATALYA ROSTOVA (NATASHA) | Soprano |
SONYA, Natasha's cousin | Mezzo-Soprano |
MARIA DMITRIEVNA AKHROSIMOVA | Contralto |
COUNT ILYA ROSTOV, Natasha's father | Bass |
COUNT PYOTR BEZUKHOV (PIERRE) | Tenor |
HELENE BEZUKHOVA, his wife | Mezzo-Soprano |
PRINCE ANATOL KURYAGIN, her brother | Tenor |
FEDYA DOLOKHOV, an officer | Baritone |
COLONEL VASSKA DENISOV | Baritone |
FIELD-MARSHAL PRINCE MIKHAIL KUTUZOV | Bass |
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE | Baritone |
PLATON KARATAEV, an old soldier | Tenor |
THE HOST | Tenor |
HIS MAJOR-DOMO | Tenor |
MADAME PERONSKAYA | Soprano |
THE TSAR | Silent |
PRINCE NIKOLAI BOLKONSKY, Andrei's father | Bass-Baritone |
HIS MAJOR-DOMO | Baritone |
AN OLD VALET | Baritone |
A HOUSEMAID | Soprano |
PRINCESS MARYA BOLKONSKAYA, Andrei's sister | Mezzo-Soprano |
BALAGA, a troika driver | Bass |
MATRIOSHA, a gypsy | Mezzo-Soprano |
DUNYASHA, Natasha's maid | Soprano |
GAVRILA, Akhrosimova's butler | Bass |
METIVIER, a French doctor | Baritone |
A FRENCH ABBE | Tenor |
TIKHON SHERBATSKY, a partisan | Baritone |
VASILISA | Mezzo-Soprano |
FYODOR, a partisan | Tenor |
MATVEYEV, a Muscovite | Baritone |
TWO PRUSSIAN GENERALS | Speaking roles |
PRINCE ANDREI'S ORDERLY | Tenor |
TWO RUSSIAN GENERALS | Speaking roles |
KAIZAROV, aide-de-Camp to Kutuzov | Tenor |
ADJUTANT TO GENERAL COMPANS | Tenor |
ADJUTANT TO MARSHAL MURAT | Treble |
MARSHAL BERTHIER | Baritone |
MARQUIS DE CAULAINCOURT | Silent role |
GENERAL BELLIARD | Baritone |
ADJUTANT TO PRINCE EUGENE | Tenor |
AIDE-DE-CAMP TO NAPOLEON | Bass |
OFF-STAGE ORDERLY | Tenor |
MONSIEUR DE BEAUSSET | Tenor |
GENERAL BENNIGSEN | Bass |
PRINCE MIKHAIL BARCLAY DE TOLLY | Tenor |
GENERAL YERMOLOV | Baritone |
GENERAL KONOVNITSIN | Tenor |
GENERAL RAYEVSKY | Baritone |
CAPTAIN RAMBALLE | Bass |
LIEUTENANT BONNET | Tenor |
IVANOV, a Muscovite | Tenor |
CAPTAIN JACQUEAU | Bass |
MARSHAL BERTHIER'S ADJUTANT | Tenor |
MAVRA KUSMINICHNA, the Rostovs' housekeeper | Contralto |
MARSHAL DAVOUT | Bass |
A FRENCH OFFICER | Baritone |
THREE MADMEN | Tenor, Baritone, Actor |
TWO FRENCH ACTRESSES | Sopranos |
Russia - Otradnoye, St Petersburg, Moscow, Borodino, Fili, near Smolensk, 1806-12
In 1809, the world-weary Prince Andrei Bolkonsky encounters the youthful Natasha Rostova, first in the country, then at a ball in St Petersburg. Enchanted, he asks for her hand in marriage. Unfortunately Natasha has also aroused the curiosity of the dissolute Anatol Kuragin. Old Prince Bolkonsky opposes his son’s marriage, on account of Natasha’s family’s poverty and low rank. Natasha is left humiliated and lonely. Anatol and his devious sister Hélène trick Natasha into believing that Anatol is in love with her. Staying with an elderly friend of the family in Moscow, she foolishly agrees to elope with Anatol and is only saved when the plan is betrayed by her cousin Sonia. The gentle Pierre Bezukhov, long-suffering husband of Hélène and close friend of Prince Andrei, explains to Natasha that Anatol is in fact married and that he himself is in love with her but, in despair, Natasha attempts suicide. Pierre forces Anatol to hand over incriminating letters and tells him to leave Moscow at once. News arrives of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. It is August 1812 and the Russian army under Field-Marshal Kutuzov is preparing to defend Moscow at the battle of Borodino. Andrei laments the waste of his life and especially the loss of Natasha. Pierre suspects that Andrei may not survive the battle. Napoleon is observed exulting in the conquest of Russia, but becomes nervous as the battle fortunes shift. Kutuzov urges the Russians to abandon Moscow, leaving it open to being sacked by the French. In the mayhem, Pierre is among those captured by the French. The mortally wounded Andrei is rescued by the Rostov family and is reconciled to Natasha, before death claims him. As the French retreat over the wintry countryside, Pierre and the other prisoners are freed by the liberating forces of Russia.
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