A Comic Strip to Prokofiev’s Music
The National Opera premiered War and Peace weekend before last. It was without doubt a very challenging task. Few opera houses, among them leading companies across the world, boast this production on their repertories. This is primarily due to the complicated music and plot, as well as the tremendous creative and technical difficulties stemming from the scope. There are 43 soloists alone! Add here the extended choral scenes, dynamic score with symphonic elements, lines from Leo Tolstoy’s authentic text, and choreography. The cast totals 140 and the wardrobe numbers 400 costumes. Now you have an idea of the kind of gauntlet the Kyiv Opera picked.
The unabridged libretto of War and Peace spells a two-night performance. Dmytro Hnatiuk, the stage director, says they had to do some editing to make it one night. The performance lasts 4 hours and has three acts and 13 scenes. There are two main lines of the plot: lyrical (the life stories of Natalie Rostova, Andrew Bolkonski, Pierre Bezukhov, Hippolyte Kuragin, Helene, Sophie, and others) and historical, portraying 1812 events with actual historical personalities such as Kutuzov, Napoleon, Alexander I, Raevski, Barclay de Tolly, and Davydov.
The opera was staged under a tight schedule, a month and a half, commissioned by Landgraf and Swiss partners of the National Opera, so that War and Peace would open the company’s tour of Winterthur in March. According to Viktor Chupryna, there was another reason to stage War and Peace : March 5 will mark the 50th anniversary of Prokofiev’s death. “We remember that he was our fellow countryman; Sergey Prokofiev was born in the village of Sontsivka, Chervonoarmiysk district, Donetsk oblast. Our new version of his opera is a tribute to the great maestro.”
War and Peace was first staged in Kyiv in November 1956, directed by Volodymyr Skliarenko, conducted by Oleksandr Klymov, production design by Anatoly Petrytsky. It marked a certain phase in the operatic art of Ukraine and even the world. Dmytro Hnatiuk then sang as Raevski and Lev Venediktov conducted the choir. I asked the latter to tell more about that rendition, which had become legendary, and about the premiere.
“We were the only other Soviet opera, after the Maly Theater of Leningrad, to stage War and Peace . Those singing key parts looked and acted very much like the characters they impersonated. For example, the bass Mykhailo Romensky (Kutuzov). All he had to do was put on that eye-patch and everybody round him involuntarily stood at attention. He was the field marshal incarnate! Kutuzov was 67 before the Battle of Borodino and Mykhailo Romensky was the same age. He acted and sang beautifully. Or take the baritone Serhiy Kozak as Napoleon. His temperament, his very nature seemed an exact replica of the French emperor’s, and his dramatic identification was perfect. Alas, I’d be hard put to name such actors today. By the way, after our triumphant performance in Moscow, the Bolshoi became interested in the opera. Our production was both lyrical and patriotic, a reflection of the director Skliarenko’s individual approach. The man had something in him that reminded one of Kurbas and this helped him cope most effectively with Prokofiev’s score and Tolstoy’s plot.
“I wouldn’t want to compare the current production to that one. Both have their positive and negative aspects. The new times require new approaches. I was happy to witness the younger performers’ enthusiasm. Actually, the emphasis is on them. This opera is very sophisticated in terms of vocal technique. The score has its reefs, yet the young cast frolicked during rehearsals, they learned their parts quickly and well. And we have very good singers. Seventy-six have joined the company over the past four years.”
The rehearsals would last six hours every day and every night we had our repertory performances. There were three casts of soloists involved, so one could only sympathize with the conductor Volodymyr Kozhukhar and his orchestra. The strain on them was three times as heavy. In the current version of War and Peace an unusual visual approach is practiced, linking the past to the present. The stage setting incorporates the best retro designs of Fedir Nirod, Yevhen Chemodurov, and Fedir Fedorivsky used in other performances. Incredibly, they all fitted in just nice. Some were restored, in others some elements were changed, and the resultant metamorphosis was great. The impression is that the setting was made especially for this opera. Production designer Maria Levytska says, “We did it not because we couldn’t afford anything better (although the production is certainly not a high budget one), but as a tribute to the giants of Ukrainian stage design, making it a retro show of their best attainments. And we must thank stage- setter Onyshchenko who had kept all those rare stage props.”
About the artistic impression. Some of the soloists coped beautifully with the most sophisticated parts, demonstrating good articulation, putting their heart in their roles. Meaning that the younger generation is morally prepared for Prokofiev’s music. Pavlo Pryimak (Pierre Bezukhov) and Dmytro Popov (Anatole Kuragin) were definitely a success with their emotional impersonations. Olha Nahorna was good as Natalie Rostov in terms of vocal technique, but she still has to work on her dramatization. Her part is very sophisticated and six singers rehearsed it, with only two making it to the premiere. The choir sounded strong and clear, as did the orchestra.
Regrettably, this production has no place for the middle generation of the Opera, for their mastery would certainly be a much- needed contribution. Also, the new production leaves much to be desired in terms of dramatics. The wardrobe looks awkward, ill-fitting, with trousers too tight and waistcoats too loose, so the noblemen, counts and princes look grotesque rather than imposing.
Probably the situation will change for the better as the cast masters the plot and stars are added. For the time being, this production is meant for a narrow circle of opera connoisseurs and those versed in Prokofiev, prepared to appreciate the whole project without going into detail.
