Prokofiev’s “War and Peace”

The monument to Kutuzov, outside Petersburg’s Kazan Cathedral, where he is buried.

Prokofiev wrote an opera based on Tolstoy’s epic novel War and Peace, about Russia’s wars with Napoleon, including Napoleon’s ill-fated invasion of Russia. The novel contrasts Napoleon’s approach to military strategy — that of a would-be chess-master — to the more cautious, intuitive understanding of Russia’s chief of command, Kutuzov who — with his one eye — appreciates the fact that a single man cannot possible oversee the chaos of battle, nor hope to control it. It is this more intuitive, more reserved understanding of war and history that ultimately proves victorious; Napoleon retreats from Russia in humiliation.

Kutuzov is buried in Petersburg’s Kazan Cathedral; pictured above. Here is his tomb:

Now, for a couple of highlights from the opera… first, the overture:

And, secondly, an aria from early in the opera, sung by the novel’s world-weary protagonist (well, one of its many protagonists!), Prince Andrey Bolkonsky. He sees an old oak that seems to embody his own cynicism and despair regarding the possibility of meaning in life, not to mention spiritual rebirth, or love. Later, he will see the tree again, and discover an unexpected change. The text of this aria follows Tolstoy’s original prose very closely:

Prince Andrey Bolkonsky:

A bright spring sky… Is it really not an illusion?
Is there really such a thing as the sun, the spring, and happiness?
Today I was riding through the forest…
There everything had turned green,
And the birches and the alders were covered with young leaves.
Brightly, amidst the green grass,
The first spring flowers shone in many colors.

Meanwhile, on the edge of the road,
A huge oak tree grew:
Grown over with old lesions,
With gnarled arms and fingers,
Like an angry and disdainful freak
It stood among the curly-haired birches,
As if saying:
”Spring, and love, and happiness —
That’s all a stupid, meaningless illusion.
There is no such thing as spring, as sun, as happiness!”

Князь Андрей Болконский:

Светлое, весеннее небо... Разве это не обман?
Разве есть солнце, весна и счастье?
Сегодня я проезжал лесом...
Там всё зазеленело,
и берёза и ольха покрылись молодой листвой.
Ярко, меж травы зелёной,
пестрели первые весенние цветы.

А на краю большой дороги
растёт огромный дуб.
Заросший старыми болячками,
с корявыми руками и пальцами,
сердитым и презрительным уродом
стоял он меж кудрявыми берёзами,
и говорил как будто:
"Весна, и любовь, и счастье,
всё это глупый, бессмысленный обман.
Нет ни весны, ни солнца, ни счастья!"