AllMovie

Inspired by the outbreak of the Second World War, Soviet composer Sergei Prokofiev crafted his 1942 opera War and Peace - an opus based on Tolstoy's timeless novel - with his second wife, Mira Mendelson-Prokoviev), penning the libretto. Divided into two halves (comprising an epigraph and thirteen scenes) the work follows the basic narrative thrust of Tolstoy's roman, with its tale of aristocratic evolution over the course of the Napoleonic Wars. This release, {#War and Peace, features a film of a live onstage performance of Prokoviev's titular opera, mounted in Paris in 2000 by The Chorus and Orchestra of the Kirov Opera. Nicolai Othotnikov portrays Field Marshal Prince Mikhail Kutuzov, Alexander Gergalov plays (%Prince Andrei Bolkonsky}, Yelena Prochina performs as Natalya Rostova (AKA Natasha), and Vasilli Gerrelo appears as Napoleon Bonaparte. Graham Vick handles the stage direction.