Opera - War and Peace
4 Compact Discs for the price of 3
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
(1891-1953)
War and Peace, Op. 91
235:10
Recorded live at the 1999 Spoleto Festival
Opera in thirteen acts
Libretto by the composer and Mira Mendelson after the novel by Leo Tolstoy
1
Overture
4:42
Scene 1
2
'The radiance of the sky in spring . . .'
3:39
Prince Andrey
3
'I won't, I can't sleep'
4:58
Natasha
4
'O God, my God! What a shame to sleep!'
2:57
Natasha
5
Scene 2
2:37
6
'Chorus! Let the chorus begin!'
4:57
Host
7
'Look, the colonel's dancing the mazurka'
2:39
Peronskaya, Akhrosimova, Hélène, Anatoly, Count Rostov
8
'Will no one choose me as a partner?'
2:48
Natasha
9
'When I was at Otradnoye in May'
6:51
Prince Andrey
Scene 3
10
'The young Prince's fiancée'
5:19
Old Footman
11
'Ah, Madam, young lady . . .'
5:55
Prince Nikolay Bolkonsky
Scene 4
12
'The charming, delightful Natasha'
3:18
Hélène
13
'She's wonderful and so beautiful'
7:12
Natasha
Scene 5
14
'At ten o'clock in the evening, she'll be waiting'
4:09
Anatoly
15
'Balaga!'
6:15
Dolokhov
Scene 6
16
'Oh, my dear Miss Natasha, all is lost, it seems'
3:38
Dunyasha
17
'A fine young lady you are!'
6:34
Akhrosimova
18
'I've sough to avoid her'
11:07
Pierre
Scene 7
19
'Picture the scene, Countess'
10:49
Métivier
Epigraph
20
'The forces of two and ten European nations'
5:19
Chorus
Scene 8
21
'Come on lads!' 'That's the way!'
8:27
Volunteers, Tikhon
22
'Denisov, her first fiancé'
3:27
Prince Andrey
23
'It's the master, look at him!'
6:06
Fyodor
24
'Hurrah! Hurrah!'
3:02
Chorus of Soldiers
25
'There is no people greater than ours'
10:34
Kutuzov
Scene 9
26
'The wine is uncorked; we must drink it'
10:25
Napoleon
Scene 10
27
'And so, gentlemen, the question is . . .'
6:48
Benigsen
28
'The enemy bears down on us with fire and steel'
1:13
Soldier
29
'When, oh when was this dreadful business decided?'
9:12
Kutuzov
Scene 11
30
'Moscow's deserted!'
8:14
Ramballe
31
'I must do the deed, or die'
4:28
Pierre
32
'Where di you get such a good going-over, lads?'
2:11
Jacqueau
33
'Davout, the cruel Davout, the emperor Napoleon's hatchet man!'
5:16
Pierre
34
'Nothing matters now, nothing'
6:41
Pierre
35
'What a dreadful scene!'
4:13
Napoleon
Scene 12
36
'It's stretching higher and further'
8:20
Prince Andrey
37
'Has fate really brought us together so strangely today . . .'
7:22
Prince Andrey
Scene 13
38
'We've burnt our bridges . . .'
5:08
Ramballe
39
'Hey! Hey! Hey!'
7:27
Voice off-stage
40
'Dolokhov said that Hélène had passed away'
2:38
Pierre
41
'The Commander-in-chief is coming!'
1:44
Adjutant
42
'The enemy has been put to rout'
6:15
Kutuzov
Ekaterina Morozova soprano - Countess Natalya Rostova
Justin Lavender tenor - Count Pyotr Bezukhov
Oleg Balashov tenor - Prince Anatol Kuragin
Roderick Williams baritone - Prince Andrey Bolkonsky
Pamela Helen Stephen mezzo-soprano - Sonya
Igor Matioukhin baritone - Lieutenant Dolokhov
Elena Ionova mezzo-soprano - Countess Hélène Bezukhov
Alan Ewing bass - Prince Mikhail Kutuzov
Stephen Dupont baritone - Count Ilya Rostov
Thomas Guthrie baritone - Colonel Vasska Denisov
Vladimir Ognev bass - Prince Nikolay Bolkonsky
Victoria Livengood contralto - Mariya Akrosimova
Neil Jenkins tenor - Platon Karatayev
Alan Opie baritone - Napoleon Bonaparte
Valeri Polyanksy
chorus master
Richard Hickox
4, 6, 8, 9 & 10 July 1999