[Met Performance] CID:352228
War and Peace {11} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/10/2007., Sirius Broadcast live
Streamed at metopera.org
(Debuts: Aleksei Markov, Marina Poplavskaya, Keith Jameson, Ekaterina Gubanova, Vitaliy Bilyy, Alexander Morozov, Todd Thomas, Lucas Meachem, Jennifer Zetlan, Samuel Dylan Rosner, Jeffrey Roger, Scott Graham, Michael Gomborone, Ashley Kohl
Broadcast/Streamed
Review)
Metropolitan Opera House
December 10, 2007 Broadcast/Streamed
WAR AND PEACE {11}
Prokofiev-Prokofiev/Mendelson
Prince Andrei Bolkonsky....Alexey Markov [Debut] *
Natasha Rostova............Marina Poplavskaya [Debut]
Sonya......................Ekaterina Semenchuk
Madame Akhrosimova.........Larisa Shevchenko
Madame Peronskaya..........Claudia Waite
Count Ilya Rostov..........Mikhail Kit
Helène Bezukhova...........Ekaterina Gubanova [Debut]
Count Pierre Bezukhov......Kim Begley
Prince Anatol Kuragin......Oleg Balashov
Czar Alexander I...........Scott Graham [Debut]
Maria Bolkonskaya..........Elizabeth Bishop
Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky...Vladimir Ognovenko
Field Marshal Kutuzov......Samuel Ramey
Napoleon Bonaparte.........Vassily Gerello
Colonel Vaska Denisov......Vitaliy Bilyy [Debut]
Lieutenant Dolokhov........Alexander Morozov [Debut]
Balaga.....................Gennady Bezzubenkov
Matryosha..................Tamara Mumford
Métivier...................Todd Thomas [Debut]
French Abbé................Bernard Fitch
Tikhon Shcherbaty..........Dean Peterson
Fyodor.....................Adam Klein
Matveyev...................Vladimir Ognovenko
Trishka....................Samuel Dylan Rosner [Debut]
Marshal Berthier...........Jeffrey Wells
Marshal Caulaincourt.......Christopher Dumont
Marshal Davout.............Dean Peterson
General Belliard...........Christopher Schaldenbrand
General Bennigsen..........Gennady Bezzubenkov
General Barclay de Tolly...Iosef Shalamayev
General Yermolov...........Louis Otey
General Rayevsky...........Lucas Meachem [Debut]
General Konovnitsin........Ronald Naldi
Captain Ramballe...........James Courtney
Captain Jacqeau............Peter Volpe
Lieutenant Bonnet..........Bernard Fitch
Gérard.....................Vladimir Grishko
Monsieur de Beausset.......Joel Sorensen
Ivanov.....................Dennis Petersen
Columbine..................Rachel Schuette
Harlequin..................Roger Jeffrey [Debut]
Host.......................Ronald Naldi
Character Ballerina........Ashley Kohl [Debut]
Footman....................Keith Jameson [Debut]
Lackey.....................Jeffrey Wells
Valet......................LeRoy Lehr
Housemaid..................Kathryn Day
Joseph.....................Mike Gomborone [Debut]
Gavrila....................Stefan Szkafarowsky
Dunyasha...................Wendy Bryn Harmer
Orderly....................Mark Schowalter
German General.............Keith Miller
German General.............Richard Bernstein
Staff Officer..............Keith Jameson
Staff Officer..............Michael Devlin
Adjutant...................Ronald Naldi
Adjutant...................Jan Opalach
Adjutant...................Dennis Petersen
Adjutant...................Leah Wool
Adjutant...................Mark Schowalter
Offstage Voice.............Eduardo Valdes
Offstage Voice.............David Won
Factory Worker.............Mark Schowalter
Shopkeeper.................Claudia Waite
Mavra Kuzminichna..........Tamara Mumford
French Officer.............Thomas Hammons
Platon Karatayev...........Nikolai Gassiev
Madman.....................Michael Forest
Madman.....................Keith Miller
Actress....................Anita Johnson
Actress....................Jennifer Zetlan [Debut]
Conductor..................Valery Gergiev
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
Revival gift of Alexander Shustorovich
Co-production with the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia
Broadcast live on Sirius Metropolitan Opera Radio
Streamed live at metopera.org
War and Peace received eight performances this season
*Note: Alexey Markov was billed as Alexej Markov until 10/1/2010 then Alexey Markov until 1/5/2015 then Aleksei Markov until 2016
Production photos of War and Peace by Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera.
Review of David Shengold in the March 2008 issue of OPERA NEWS
On December 10, Valery Gergiev brought the Met's 2002 "War and Peace," last seen in its debut season, back to rousing life. This time around, no one - in fact nothing but an errant pillow - rolled down George Tsypin's striking but challenging "Earth's curvature" raked set toward the orchestra pit, whence emerged a fiery, coherent reading of Prokofiev's protean score. This immense challenge showed the Met's principal guest conductor at something like his best.
Admirably, Andrei Konchalovsky returned to supervise his own staging, which in general is commendably fluid. A few touches seemed gratuitous this time around. Who needs a "commedia" duo to bookend and punctuate the magical ball scene? The Bergmanesque asylum escapees camping it up while Moscow burns (and the subsequent appearance of Dwarf Napoleon) don't accord with anything else onstage. And for the mortally wounded Andrei to emerge from his makeshift rural deathbed in sparkling white pajamas stretches credulity. Interestingly, Konchalovsky's pacing works better in the "War" section after intermission, usually harder to corral than the romantic domestic drama of "Peace."
British tenor Kim Begley's expert musicianship and convincing acting counted for much as Pierre; more youthful tone and securer high notes would have augmented his admirable portrait of the opera's conscience. The young Russians making debuts as Andrei and Natasha faced a tall order, given how strikingly well-cast Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Anna Netrebko had been in this production's first season. No worries. Alexej Markov seems primed for international stardom as a Verdi baritone, more in the line of Yuri Mazurok than of Hvorostovsky: his is a dark, healthy sound with a built-in megaphone and an unlimited-sounding top. Tall, he looks good and moves well onstage. Markov has not yet developed his dramatic skills to the point of conveying Andrei's initial world-weariness or aristocratic reserve, so at first the prince came off as a standard leading man. In the second half of the piece, Markov's performance more effectively suggested the conflicted heroic officer. Marina Poplavskaya, if lacking Netrebko's instant "Audrey Hepburn" magic, is an attractive, determined-looking young soprano. She acted intelligently, though Konchalovsky's direction stresses Natasha's gawkiness at the expense of the needed all-conquering charm. Despite occasional glassiness on top under pressure, Poplavskaya sports a lovely, individual lyric timbre one wishes to hear again. December 15 brought on a second set of crossed lovers in their Met debuts. Vasili Ladyuk's baritone is more a Marcello/Valentin kind of instrument, with an exceptionally beautiful upper register; he shaped words with point and embodied Andrei movingly. Irina Mataeva proved more naturally girlish than Poplavskaya as Natasha; her soprano has a fresh, appealing middle but manifested some "traditional" Russian shrillness on top.
Several leading singers returned from the initial run. Samuel Ramey won fond ovations as a grandly simple Kutuzov, whose music is rousing even if the Stalin evocation was (inevitably) intended. Ramey retains range and projection, plus excellent top notes; steadiness in the middle, however, came and went distressingly. Veteran dramatic soprano Larisa Shevchenko, who alternated Mme. Akhrosimova with Elena Obraztsova in 2002, declaimed "mélodrame" passages less flamboyantly but voiced the music with greater substance and precision than her more starry mezzo colleague commanded. Vassily Gerello molded his fine middleweight baritone to Napoleon's (deliberately) unflattering music; Prokofiev made his scenes worthy of Tolstoy's portrait of sinister, grandiose ineptitude. Oleg Balashov took time to warm up his piercing tenor as the snaky Anatol but gave a finely considered performance of a fiercely difficult role. Suitably rough vocally, Vladimir Ognovenko had a double field day as grumpy Prince Bolkonsky and the peasant leader Matveyev. One wanted to hear more of Ekaterina Semenchuk's dark, piquant mezzo than Prokofiev allotted Sonya to sing. Among new principals, sonorous Elizabeth Bishop (Andrei's sister Maria) had done her linguistic homework; Mikhail Kit's Rostov proved gruff but ingratiating.
Besides the leading couple, there were seven company debuts in supporting and cameo singing roles. Handsome, silky-voiced Ekaterina Gubanova made a properly seductive Hélène, and the excellent Ukrainian baritone Vitaliy Bilyy made the most of Denisov's opportunity for expansive cantilena. Alexander Morozov, however, sounded routine as Dolokhov, Anatol's accomplice in Natasha's botched abduction. Todd Thomas (Métivier) showed a hefty, characterful baritone, youthful Lucas Meachem (Rayevsky) a well-honed lyric one. Keith Jameson brought his keen light tenor to two tiny parts, and Jennifer Zetlan lent a bright soprano to a tinier one.
As with "Boris Godunov," small parts in this opera tend paradoxically to demand greater linguistic authenticity than leads, in which cantabile lines can somewhat disguise accents. Not all the Americans fully met that challenge. Among the myriad singers employed in bit parts (including several who have done Met leads as well), standouts included rich-voiced Tamara Mumford, playing Anatol's cast-off mistress, Matryosha, and the Rostovs' maid Mavra, wonderfully pungent bass Gennady Bezzubenkov (Balaga, Bennigsen) and Jeffrey Wells (Lackey, Berthier) in fine form. Artful Iosef Shalamayev sang lyrically as Barclay de Tolly, while fellow tenor Nikolai Gassiev etched Tolstoy's tiresome peasant-philosopher construct (Platon Karatayev) with a shred of voice. The rejuvenated-sounding Met chorus was in form, so even if not every detail of the countless supernumeraries' marching and parading was in place, the musical level attained onstage was admirably high.