Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953)
War and Peace, op. 91 (1941-1952) 
Libretto by Sergei Prokofiev and Mira Mendelson-Prokofieva, after the novel of the same name by Lev Tolstoy
Prince Andrei Bolkonski – Andrei Zhilikhovsky
Natasha Rostova – Olga Kulchynska
Count Pierre Bezukhov – Arsen Soghomonyan
Bayerischer Staatsopernchor
Bayerisches Staatsorchester/Vladimir Jurowski
rec. live, 3 March, 2023, National Theatre, Munich, Germany
BSO Recordings BSOREC2006 Blu-ray [258]

Critics often talk about Prokofiev’s War and Peace in a way which implies a work of art with a definite shape and identity. And yet. From the day in 1942 he played through the vocal score to Minister Mikhail Khrapchenko, a Tolstoy scholar, and musicologist Semyon Shlifstheyn, Prokofiev was immured in a never ending nightmare of revision and iteration to the score based on ‘suggestions’ and directions from Soviet officialdom. Prokofiev would eventually submit four versions of the work to various committees and officials containing large numbers of significant revisions whose purpose was to align the musical and dramatic content of the work with Socialist realist ideals and an appropriately patriotic spirit, whilst acceptably identifying Stalin with the character of Field Marshal Kutuzov. This balancing act proved too tricky to bring off in Prokofiev’s lifetime. He saw only the ‘Peace’ scenes of what ended up as a two part work performed and arguably at the time of the composer’s death there was no completely definitive ‘signed off’ version.

As the new Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera, Vladimir Jurowski was keen to bring War and Peace to the Munich stage in 2023. Partnering with the Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov, he planned to stage as a complete a version as possible in a single evening, which he notes in an accompanying interview would have been similar in length to Götterdämmerung. In the course of preparation for the production however, Russia invaded Ukraine, raising moral and political questions about staging the work. When the temptation must have been to cancel, Jurowski and Tcherniakov instead decided to press on but with a production that would try and make sense of the opera in the prevailing conditions. The result was a staging in March 2023 that received widespread acclaim and subsequent awards. The Blu-ray disc of the production has now been released and gives the chance for a wider assessment two years on.

There are two interlinked sets of choices that the production team had to negotiate. First, the overall context of the staging, second, the musical decisions which would support that. Tcherniakov’s solution to the first is typical of the invention and ingenuity he has shown throughout his career. He sets the entire opera in a foundational location for Soviet history, the Pillar Hall inside the House of the Unions in Moscow. All of the characters, here depicted as modern day refugees (replacing Tolstoy’s Russian nobles) or hostages are trapped in this space. What develops is a sort of psychological experiment, with the refugees’ role playing becoming a dangerous type of collective therapy. It’s slightly clumsily put in one of the accompanying interviews as an attempt to depict the suffering of people in Ukraine but from the perspective of the historic pain of 1812. It works much better in practice than that sounds, the closest analogy I can think of in the approach to staging being Peter Brook’s of the Marat/Sade of Peter Weiss.

In terms of the text and music, here the history of the multiple versions of the opera and its mutability actually helped immeasurably I feel. In essence, the ‘War’ part of the opera is quite heavily edited with some interesting interpretative choices, particularly at the end, but the ‘Peace’ scenes and their central love story remain. Jurowski makes the point in an interview that Prokofiev’s method of composition, working in short, autonomous segments actually makes it easy to remove sections without jarring musical consequences. He also points out that for one of the versions of the opera, (the first in two parts and 13 scenes completed between 1946-1948) Prokofiev provided instructions for abridgment into 10 scenes or fewer. Looking at those instructions is fascinating. Perhaps the most significant cut of all which is made in this production, that of the entirety of Scene 10, the Military Council at Fili, is also on Prokofiev’s list of ‘permitted’ omissions. So, however radical Jurowski and Tcherniakov might have been in their interpretation, much of what they have done in editing or adapting the score is prefigured by the pragmatic composer who had an excellent sense of what could work in the theatre.

None of this would work though if the central trio of characters were not clearly delineated and were unable to respond to the dramatic and musical demands placed upon them. It’s pleasing to be able to report then that all three do a fine job. Olga Kulchynska’s Natasha has just the right mixture of vivaciousness and enthrallment and sings superbly. Arsen Soghomonyan clearly understands that in the novel, Pierre is a stand in for the towering intellect of the author and plays him accordingly, but also as a fundamentally awkward character with a Hamlet like hesitancy. He is in good voice. Andrei Zhilikhovsky as Prince Andrei also sings well, even if he does sometimes seem slightly bemused by what Tcherniakov asks him to do. The rest of the cast is also uniformly excellent musically, with varying levels of acting ability but all are at least competent. Best of all is Bekhzod Davronov as Anatol. He effortlessly compels one’s attention in every scene he is in.

The chorus and orchestra are absolutely first rate throughout. In one of the Blu-Ray extras we get to see the chorus going through the many physically difficult things Tcherniakov asks them to do (sometimes whilst singing) and they’re obviously completely committed, with results that match. Whilst the orchestral playing is magnificent, I do find Jurowski’s approach very driven, occasionally excessively so, so both on stage and in the pit things can sometimes feel a little relentless. But this is a much more preferable ‘fault’ to a production which sags. And on the subject of the production I should say that Tcherniakov’s conception isn’t one of those ideas which seem brilliant at first but quickly palls as it tries to accommodate narrative development, it really has been thoroughly thought through. It’s consistently inventive, with sustained dramatic tension and a high level of emotional involvement.

So, I think what we have here is more than a record of something that was specific to its time, more than an essentially ephemeral event. It’s a fascinating and valid interpretation which proves at least two things I think. First, despite the pain undoubtedly caused to Prokofiev by the endless saga of revisions, what we have been left with is a great and supremely flexible work of art, whose difficult development actually facilitated a brilliant and appropriate realisation. Second, it absolutely gives the lie to the fatuous calls one still sees for music and the performing arts more generally to keep out of politics and global concerns. I defy anyone to watch this production and not come away with a deepened sense of compassion and empathy for the victims of war and refugees more generally. As Dmitri Tcherniakov says in one of the interviews he gives on the Blu-Ray we delude ourselves if we think ‘a protected magic bubble of beautiful art’ is desirable, let alone practical.

Forgive me however if I end in a slight artistic and technical bubble. This is an elegantly packaged set. I think Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings win my prize for the best design and typography of any label. There is an informative booklet only slightly marred by a rather ponderous interview with ‘media theorist’ Boris Groys who makes heavy weather of Tolstoy’s theory of history. If only Minister Khrapchenko had been available. The Blu-Ray comes with a number of extras, including an excellent joint interview with Tcherniakov and Jurowski. Visually the production has been well filmed and the image quality is excellent. Sonically, something odd seems to have happened to the normalisation of the orchestral sound though, which is often slightly underwhelming. It’s not a huge problem but I was expecting spectacular technicolour sound from the Blu-Ray audio and was a bit disappointed. One soon adapts however and it’s absolutely not a reason to avoid investing –  this is very much a production which deserves to live on and be seen by a wide audience.

Dominic Hartley

Previous review: Robert Cummings (June 2025)

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Other cast
Sonja – Alexandra Yangel
New Year’s Eve Ball Host – Kevin Conners
New Year’s Eve Ball Footman – Alexander Fedin
Maria Dmitrievna Akhrossimova – Violeta Urmana
Peronskaja – Olga Guryakova
Count Ilya Andreyevitch Rostow – Mischa Schelomianski
Countess Helene Bezukhova – Victoria Karkacheva
Anatoly Kuragin – Bekhzod Davronov
Lieutenant Dolokhov – Alexei Botnarciuc
The Bolkonskis’ old footman – Christian Rieger
The Bolkonskis’ maid – Emily Sierra
The Bolkonskis’ valet – Martin Snell
Princess Maria Bolkonskaya – Christina Bock
Prince Nikolai Andreievich Bolkonski – Sergei Leiferkus
Balaga – Alexander Roslavets
Matryosha – Oksana Volkova
Dunyasha – Elmira Karakhanov
Gavrila – Roman Chabaranok
Metivier – Stanislav Kuflyuk
French Abbot – Maxim Paster
Denissov – Dmitry Cheblykov
Tikhon Shcherbaty – Nikita Volkov
Fyodor – Alexander Fedorov
Matveyev – Sergei Leiferkus
Vassilissa – Xenia Vyaznikova
Trishka – Solist(en) of the Tölzer Knabenchors
Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov – Dmitry Ulyanov
Adjutant to Kutuzov – Alexander Fedin
1st Staff Officer – Liam Bonthrone
2nd Staff Officer – Csaba Sándor
Napoleon – Tómas Tómasson
Aide-de-Camp to General Compans – Alexander Fedorov
Aide-de-Camp of Murat – Alexandra Yangel
Marshal Berthier – Stanislav Kuflyuk
General Belliard – Bálint Szabó
Prince Eugene’s aide-de-camp – Granit Musliu
Backstage voice – Aleksei Kursanov
Aide de camp of Napoleon’s suite – Thomas Mole
De Beausset – Kevin Conners
Captain Ramballe – Alexander Vassiliev
Lieutenant Bonnet – Aleksey Kursanov
Captain Jacqueau – Csaba Sándor
Gérard – Liam Bonthrone
A young factory worker – Granit Musliu
Shopkeeper – Olga Guryakova
Mavra Kusminichna – Xenia Vyaznikova
Ivanov – Alexander Fedorov
Marshal Davout – Bálint Szabó
French Officer – Andrew Hamilton
Plato Karataiev – Mikhail Gubsky
Two God-fearing men  Kevin Conners, Christian Rieger
Two French actresses – Jasmin Delfs, Jessica Niles

Production & Video Details
Director and set designer – Dmitry Tcherniakov
Choirmaster – David Cavelius
Costumes – Elena Zaytseva
Lighting – Gleb Filshtinsky
Master of Arms – Ran Arthur Braun
Dramaturgy – Analena Weres, Malte Krasting

Picture format: UHD/NTSC 16:9 
Sound format: PCM Stereo and DTS HD MA 5.1
Region Code: A, B, C
Language: Russian – Subtitles: German, English, Russian, French, Ukrainian, Japanese, Korean