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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I approached this recording with caution, largely because I had read in other reviews that the sound was not of the highest quality. It's true that the music does not come over as clearly or with such precision/ dynamic range as the Rostropovich set. Nonetheless, after hearing the Kirov account, I have to say that despite these limitations, it did a better job of persuading me of the merits of Prokofiev's opera. The pacing is more effective, and the singers more idiomatic as a group than on the Rostropovich. Listening through the final tableau, first Gergiev, then Rostropovich, was quite revealing. The latter's ensemble and precision is much better during the terrific opening of this scene, xylophones much more impressive and a louder, more menacing sound. But by the end of the scene with Rostropovich, I found my attention beginning to drift. This is only partly because of the more extended (and more bombastic) variant of the final chorus R. uses: Gergiev's shortened version here really is a much better way of ending the opera. In general, Gergiev seems to have a more urgent and involving way with the piece.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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7 reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Remarkable performance, and Complete too
24 Feb 2002
Format:Audio CD
Although the recording level is too low as established by others reviewing this work/recordings, I have to point out that the dramatic quality is stronger than others. I have the Hickox and like it a little less than this. The Rostropovich is very fine, BUT the singing/acting is weak, the orchestral playing is great. The Bolshoi sets ie: Alexander Melik-Pashaev and Mark Ermler are outstanding in performance and recording, but they are edited versions. Although I have heard the Janssen set I haven't analyzed it clearly, since I do not own it. For a complete version I strongly recommend the Gergiev performance. The acting and conducting is superior to the Hickox performance if one can forgive the low sound recording. I found myself a bit bored at times while listening to the Hickox upon its broadcast before the CD issueing. I did buy it since it is stronger than the Rostropovich, but it lacks a solid continuity of drama between soloists. The Gergiev performance treats every scene with care and understood performance which I don't always find in other performances. It is live and does fail on the attempts of the engineers, but what does that have to do with the artists performance? It is all round complete and more satisfactory than its rival Spoleto performance under Hickox.
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Gergiev is strongest in the "Peace" scenes
26 May 2006
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The two contenders for the best "War and Peace" are this 1993 Gergiev set (on 3 CDs) and Rostropovich's 1989 recording (on 4 CDs) for ERato. The lines seem evenly drawn with the critics. Those who favor Rostropovich (whom the dying Prokofiev entrusted with the opera) like his impassioned conducting and Vishnevskaya's ardent portrayl of Natasha, despite the fact that she was twenty years too old for the part. Those who favor Gergiev point to the evenness of his singing cast and the psychological refinement of each character. I can accept both viewpoints. If you have the resources, you might buy the Gergiev for the "Peace" scenes in the drawing rooms and ballrooms, the Rostropovich for the "War" scenes that occupy the second half of the opera. In that regard Gergiev has the advantage of better music, since Prokofiev originally intended to portray only the personal, romantic parts of the novel. War came as an afterthought when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union.
The work itself continues to have problems. No one should come ot it expecting Tolstoy's novel and its moving wisdom. When Prokofiev was composing the opera in the mid-Forties, his inspiraiton was variable. The great Fifth Sym. had just been written in the sumemr of 1941, but that was his last indisputable masterpiece. "War and Peace" contains a feeble Overture, included here by Gergiev but omitted whenever he stages the opera. There are patriotic choruses straight out of Soviet wartime propaganda, clearly aimed at Hitler more than Napoleon. And in general the melodic inspiration falls well short of Romeo and Juliet--the more delicate music, of which there is a lot on CD 1, sounds like outtakes from Prokofiev's fitfully inspired Cinderella ballet.
War and Peace works best if you have seen its epic spectacle onstage, so I sympathize with the reviewers who recommend the DVD instead. Coming to the work cold, with no visual memories of Moscow burning, Natasha's delirious dancing at the ball, Napoleon in retreat with half an army onstage, a listener may get fairly bored. Prokofiev found a middle-of-the-road idiom that has few pinnacles, presumably because of the daunting four hours of stage business he had to compose for. As a work of craft, War and Peace is admirable, but without the epic spectacle, its musical thinness shows thorugh.
The work itself continues to have problems. No one should come ot it expecting Tolstoy's novel and its moving wisdom. When Prokofiev was composing the opera in the mid-Forties, his inspiraiton was variable. The great Fifth Sym. had just been written in the sumemr of 1941, but that was his last indisputable masterpiece. "War and Peace" contains a feeble Overture, included here by Gergiev but omitted whenever he stages the opera. There are patriotic choruses straight out of Soviet wartime propaganda, clearly aimed at Hitler more than Napoleon. And in general the melodic inspiration falls well short of Romeo and Juliet--the more delicate music, of which there is a lot on CD 1, sounds like outtakes from Prokofiev's fitfully inspired Cinderella ballet.
War and Peace works best if you have seen its epic spectacle onstage, so I sympathize with the reviewers who recommend the DVD instead. Coming to the work cold, with no visual memories of Moscow burning, Natasha's delirious dancing at the ball, Napoleon in retreat with half an army onstage, a listener may get fairly bored. Prokofiev found a middle-of-the-road idiom that has few pinnacles, presumably because of the daunting four hours of stage business he had to compose for. As a work of craft, War and Peace is admirable, but without the epic spectacle, its musical thinness shows thorugh.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Sergei Prokofiev: War And Peace
18 Nov 2011
Format:Audio CD
Sergei Prokofiev: War And Peace is a 1993 Philips Classics Productions recording starring the Kirov Chorus and Orchestra under the direction of Valery Gergiev. Chorus Masters Valery Borisov and Leonid Tepliakov. The booklet is almost 350 pages long. Bernard Jacobson has written the essay "Ambitious Operatic Epic". Kadja Grönke has written the synopsis. Also included are photographs of the performers and conductor from the time of the recording. All the lyrics are available in Russian, English, German and French. One can definitely hear the Wagner influence. It is like Prokofiev has taken a page from Tannheuser. An all Russian group for a Russian opera is a must as they perfectly understand the nature of the language. A very fine recording that should not be missed. I loved it. Highly recommended indeed. 5/5.
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