Canadian Opera Company – Prokofiev’s War and Peace

Paula Citron

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War and Peace
Canadian Opera Company
Composed by Sergei Prokofiev
Directed by Tim Albery
Starring Elena Semenova, Russell Braun, Mikhail Agafonov, Oleg Balashov, Mikhail Kit and Vassily Gerello
At the Four Seasons Centre until Nov. 1
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The new Canadian Opera Company production of Prokofiev’s epic War and Peace is perfection. Absolutely everything works in this brilliant vision by director Tim Albery and his creative team.

The opera was written at the height of World War Two, and even though Tolstoy’s monumental novel is about the 1812 French invasion, the opera is really about the Soviet’s life and death struggle against the Nazis. The oversized chorus is dressed in Stalinist era costumes, while the principal singers are in period clothes.

German conductor Johannes Debus is a young maestro who is destined for greatness. The way he marshals the forces of the expanded COC orchestra through Prokofiev’s gargantuan score is breath-taking – interpreting for us the drama both large and small.

Almost every opera singer in Canada is on the stage, filling in the colourful characters surrounding the excellent imported Eastern Bloc singers and Canadian baritone Russell Braun as Prince Bolkonsky.

War and Peace continues at the Four Seasons Centre until Nov. 1.