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[Met Performance] CID:352228



War and Peace
Metropolitan Opera House, Mon, December 10, 2007
Broadcast

Debut : Alexey Markov, Marina Poplavskaya, Ekaterina Gubanova, Scott Graham, Vitaliy Bilyy, Alexander Morozov, Lucas Meachem, Samuel Dylan Rosner, Keith Jameson, Roger Jeffrey, Ashley Kohl, Mike Gomborone, Todd Thomas, Jennifer Zetlan







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: Aleksei Markov was billed as Alexej Markov until 10/1/2010 and as Alexey Markov until 1/5/2015
Production photos of War and Peace by Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera.

FUNDING:
Revival a gift of Alexander Shustorovich

Review 1:

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.

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Met careers

• Valery Gergiev [Conductor]
• Alexey Markov [Prince Andrei Bolkonsky]
• Marina Poplavskaya [Natasha Rostova]
• Ekaterina Semenchuk [Sonya]
• Larisa Shevchenko [Madame Akhrosimova]
• Claudia Waite [Madame Peronskaya/Shopkeeper]
• Mikhail Kit [Count Ilya Rostov]
• Ekaterina Gubanova [Hélène Bezukhova]
• Kim Begley [Count Pierre Bezukhov]
• Oleg Balashov [Prince Anatol Kuragin]
• Scott Graham [Czar Alexander I]
• Elizabeth Bishop [Maria Bolkonskaya]
• Vladimir Ognovenko [Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky/Matveyev]
• Samuel Ramey [Field Marshal Kutuzov]
• Vassily Gerello [Napoleon Bonaparte]
• Vitaliy Bilyy [Colonel Vaska Denisov]
• Alexander Morozov [Lieutenant Dolokhov]
• Gennady Bezzubenkov [Balaga/General Bennigsen]
• Tamara Mumford [Matryosha/Mavra Kuzminichna]
• Lucas Meachem [General Rayevsky]
• Adam Klein [Fyodor]
• Samuel Dylan Rosner [Trishka]
• Jeffrey Wells [Marshal Berthier/Lackey]
• Christopher Dumont [Marshal Caulaincourt]
• Dean Peterson [Marshal Davout/Tikhon Shcherbaty]
• LeRoy Lehr [Valet]
• Christopher Schaldenbrand [General Belliard]
• Iosef Shalamayev [General Barclay de Tolly]
• Louis Otey [General Yermolov]
• Stefan Szkafarowsky [Gavrila]
• Ronald Naldi [General Konovnitsin/Adjutant/Host]
• Keith Jameson [Footman/Staff Officer]
• James Courtney [Captain Ramballe]
• Peter Volpe [Captain Jacqeau]
• Bernard Fitch [Lieutenant Bonnet/French Abbé]
• Vladimir Grishko [Gérard]
• Joel Sorensen [Monsieur de Beausset]
• Dennis Petersen [Adjutant/Ivanov]
• Rachel Schuette [Columbine]
• Roger Jeffrey [Harlequin]
• Ashley Kohl [Character Ballerina]
• Kathryn Day [Housemaid]
• Mike Gomborone [Joseph]
• Wendy Bryn Harmer [Dunyasha]
• Todd Thomas [Métivier]
• Richard Bernstein [German General]
• Michael Devlin [Staff Officer]
• Jan Opalach [Adjutant]
• Leah Wool [Adjutant]
• Mark Schowalter [Orderly/Adjutant/Factory Worker]
• Keith Miller [German General/Madman]
• Eduardo Valdes [Offstage Voice]
• David Won [Offstage Voice]
• Thomas Hammons [French Officer]
• Nikolai Gassiev [Platon Karatayev]
• Michael Forest [Madman]
• Anita Johnson [Actress]
• Jennifer Zetlan [Actress]
• Andrei Konchalovsky [Production]
• George Tsypin [Set Designer]
• Tatiana Noginova [Costume Designer]
• James F. Ingalls [Lighting Designer]
• Elaine McCarthy [Projection Designer]
• Eugene Monakhov [Associate Set Designer]
• Sergei Gritsai [Choreographer]