Richard Baker describes The Making of an Opera
I would be prepared to accept the failure of all my other compositions if only I could see a complete production of War and Peace (PROKOFIEV)
In the summer of 1941. when the German armies invaded Russia, the composer Sergei Prokofiev began to write one of the most moving works of our century: the opera War and Peace. His inspiration was the 3 echo of that earlier invasion < by Napoleon in 1812 and its reflection in Tolstoy's great
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Prokofiev worked on the opera for 12 years, completing the final draft a few weeks before his death in March 1953. He never saw it performed. with DAVID MAHLOWE as Prokofiev and Other parts read by PAUL WEBSTER , DAVID KILLICX Written by NORMAN SWALLOW Producer STANLEY WILLIAMSON