Prince Andrei Nikolayevich Bolkonsky is visiting the estate of Count Rostov, he is full of bleak thoughts about the present and the future. Suddenly, he hears the singing and dialogue of Natasha Rostova and Sonya in the upper chambers. It distracts him from sad thoughts. Natasha is excited by the beauty of the spring night, her words touch Prince Andrei and set his thoughts in a brighter mood.
Picture two
A high-society ball at the Ekaterininsky nobleman. The invitees arrive. Among them are Count Rostov with his daughter, Pierre Bezukhov with his beautiful wife Helen, her brother Anatole Kuragin. Dancing and fun are in full swing, Natasha Rostova is at the big ball for the first time - she wants to dance to show herself. Pierre Bezukhov brings her to Andrei Bolkonsky, who invites her to a waltz tour. Natasha is happy, Andrey is fascinated by her.
Picture three
After Andrey proposed to Natasha, she must meet the groom's family. Count Rostov brings his daughter to the Bolkonskys' house. However, the old prince is offended by the engagement of his son to Natasha Rostova, he considers this relationship unworthy for his son and defiantly refuses to receive guests. Alarmed and frightened, Rostov leaves Natasha with Andrei's sister, Princess Marya. Between them there is a tense conversation about Napoleon. Suddenly the old man Bolkonsky enters in a deliberately homemade suit. He is harsh with both his daughter and Natasha, insulting her. Natasha rushes to the returned father, begging to take her away. Princess Marya tries to talk about Prince Andrei, but the dialogue fails.
Picture Four
Ball at Helen Bezukhova. Anatole Kuragin confesses his love to Natasha, trying to seduce her. Natasha is confused and embarrassed, she is unable to understand the feelings that have gripped her, it seems to her that she loves Anatole.
Picture Five
Dolokhov's office. Friends are preparing for Anatole's departure. Kuragin indulges in dreams of an early meeting with Natasha, whom he is going to kidnap today and take away abroad. Dolokhov tries to dissuade Anatole from a risky undertaking, but Kuragin is adamant: he does not want to think about the consequences. The coachman Balaga arrived with a dashing troika. Anatole says goodbye to the gypsy Matryosha and sets off.
Picture six
Natasha is looking forward to the appearance of Kuragin, but Sonya betrayed the secret of Akhrosimova's escape. Barely appearing, Anatole sees the current situation and disappears. Akhrosimova reprimands Natasha, who is in a state of despair. She feels like she's been betrayed. However, the situation is somewhat changed by the appearance of Pierre Bezukhov, who reports that Anatole could not be her fiancé, since he is married. Trying to console Natasha, Pierre inadvertently gives her his own feelings. However, she is stunned by what she heard, it seems to her that life does not make sense and she tries to commit suicide.
Picture seven
After visiting Akhrosimova, Pierre returns home, where he finds Anatole. Enraged, Pierre demands that he return Natasha's letters and leave Moscow immediately. Frightened Anatole agrees. Kuragin's cowardice causes Pierre's contempt and hatred. His sad thoughts are interrupted by the news of the outbreak of war with Napoleon.
Picture eight
On the Borodino field, a group of militias is building fortifications. They are determined to win the upcoming fight. Not far away, Lieutenant Colonel Denisov tells the commander of the Jaeger regiment Andrei Bolkonsky about his plan. guerrilla war. The meeting with Denisov stirred up memories of the recent past in the soul of Prince Andrei. Joyfully greeted by the troops, Field Marshal Kutuzov bypasses the positions. He addresses the passing shelves with words that inspire feat. Kutuzov calls up Prince Bolkonsky and invites him to serve at the headquarters. But Bolkonsky does not want to part with the people whom he fell in love with in the days of formidable trials. The thunder of the first shots is heard - the Battle of Borodino begins.
Scene nine
Shevardinsky redoubt. From here, Napoleon watches the fight. He has no doubts about his success. However, instead of the usual reports of brilliant victories, adjutant marshals arrive one after another, asking for reinforcements. Napoleon is confused. He is unable to understand why the troops led by him do not put the enemy to flight, why military happiness betrayed him.
Scene ten
Village hut in the village of Fili. Military Council of the Russian command. Kutuzov calls to resolve the issue - whether to risk the loss of the army in the battle near Moscow or leave the city without a fight. The opinions of the generals were divided. Benigsen and Yermolov offer to accept the battle; Barclay de Tolly and Raevsky object, arguing that the position at the Sparrow Hills is unfavorable, and the enemy has a numerical superiority. After listening to the generals, the field marshal gives the order to retreat. Everyone disperses. Kutuzov is left alone, immersed in thought about the fate of the Motherland.
Scene Eleven
Fire on the streets of Moscow. The army dispersed to their homes, seized with the excitement of robbery. With anger, the remaining Muscovites are watching the robbery of the French.
Scene 12
Dark hut. The seriously wounded Prince Andrei lies delirious. In his morbidly aroused mind, nightmares, memories of the past days and a painful premonition of approaching death alternate incoherently. He saw a lot differently, he wants to return the past and see Natasha again. She shows up at the door. At the moment of enlightenment of his consciousness, she rushes to Prince Andrei and begs to forgive her for all the suffering that she caused him. Prince Andrei is calmed, he is immersed in the memory of the waltz music that once danced with her. However, quiet peace is again interrupted by pain and painful, mortal delirium ...
Scene thirteen
The remnants of Napoleon's army randomly retreat across the snowy Smolensk road, breaking through the blizzard and blizzard. Russian prisoners are being led under escort. The retreating French detachment is attacked by partisans led by Denisov, Dolokhov and Shcherbaty. After a short fight, they gather around the released prisoners. With joyful exclamations, the partisans greet the appearance of Kutuzov, who addresses the people with gratitude for their courage in the fight against the enemy. The words of the field marshal cause a general upsurge.
Leo Tolstoy did not like opera and, writing "War and Peace", did not bypass this "most disgusting spectacle", expressing a skeptical attitude towards him on the pages of the novel. So Natasha Rostova perceives an opera performance as nonsense, because she is a living person who has fallen into a fake environment for her of fake beauty of an opera performance.
Tolstoy could not even suspect that someday an opera would be composed based on his epic novel, and his beloved heroine Natasha Rostova would sing. The artistic audacity of Sergei Prokofiev in the choice of material immediately attracted attention. The idea of the opera was embodied over the course of twelve years, constantly expanding and supplementing with new paintings. As a result, Prokofiev was never able to decide on the final version of the opera, which to this day allows directors to freely handle the score.
The history of the creation of the opera "War and Peace" is a whole strip of overcoming obstacles that deserves a separate monographic study. During the years of the Great Patriotic War, Tolstoy's novel was perceived with particular poignancy, as noted by the writer Veniamin Kaverin, because "this book says not only about How we won, but who are we and why we must win again.”
The composer's wife and co-author of the libretto Mira Mendelssohn-Prokofieva recalls: "War and Peace" was the first work I read aloud to Sergei Sergeyevich [...] When I reached the pages describing the meeting of the wounded Prince Andrei with Natasha, Sergey Sergeyevich told me that he felt this stage as an opera, and it was from that moment that he began to think of "War and Peace" as an operatic plot.
Prokofiev was attracted by the lyrical scenes of the novel, the drama of individual characters, but the idea of the opera grew to the scale of a historical canvas - from a close-up to a general one. Already in the process of composing "War and Peace", theaters (including the Metropolitan Opera) were actively interested, the composer was hurried by telegrams from the Committee on Arts, newspapers regularly published announcing articles and notes. Despite the fact that the staging of Prokofiev's opera became a matter of state importance, they did not dare to release the performance on the big stage. The stage implementation of the not yet fully written score was entrusted to the "laboratory of the Soviet opera" - the Small Leningrad Opera Theater (MALEGOT) under the direction of conductor Samuil Samosud.
Interest in Prokofiev's new opera was fueled by a natural post-war appeal to the ideas of Tolstoy's novel, as well as by the state's need for appointed "leading" Soviet composers. For returning to his homeland, the emigrant Prokofiev was forgiven for his “bourgeois” past, for the opera Semyon Kotko (1939) he was proclaimed the greatest melodist. Therefore, the fate of "War and Peace" was taken up at the highest state level.
The premiere of the opera in a concert version took place on June 7, 1945 in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory under the baton of conductor Samuil Samosud, and a year later, on June 12, 1946, the MALEGOT troupe performed with a theatrical premiere, however, in an abbreviated version. Only the first part was presented, including eight pictures of the "peace". The production was staged by the young and promising director Boris Pokrovsky, conducted by Samuil Samosud, and the scenery was designed by Vladimir Dmitriev.
Boris Pokrovsky recalls how Prokofiev played the clavier of the opera in one of the rooms of the Bolshoi Theater administration: “I played like a bad pianist, sorting out some nonsense from a sheet as a favor [...] I didn’t like the opera. She didn't live up to my expectations. I expected to hear Tolstoy within the boundaries of the figurative world of Tchaikovsky or, at worst, Shaporin.
Pokrovsky was not satisfied with the cinematic principles of dramaturgy, the compositional effects of editing episodes, the director wrote: “People filled the opera like countless hordes [...] It is easy to understand the confusion at the sight of all this multilingual, different class, different character, different thinking and different feeling mass. I went into a state of panic when I tried, according to the laws of directing, to organize these images into a coherent system, “stringing” them on a through action. The characters did not fit with each other, events began and were interrupted by themselves, the plot broke down all the time.
Prokofiev, who often wrote music for films, used in "War and Peace" not just a change of frames-episodes, not a kaleidoscope of alternating scenes, but, according to M. Druskin, "rethought, musically reincarnated the principles of filming - slow and fast, influx and large plan." Pokrovsky decided that the production, consisting of many rather small paintings, should be carried out as a "single stream of thoughts."
The initiators of the performance were students and associates of Vsevolod Meyerhold - Samuil Samosud and Vladimir Dmitriev, absolute authorities in the production of Soviet opera. In this situation, Pokrovsky, who arrived from Moscow, called himself only an assistant to the Samosud, because the actors performed mise-en-scenes only with the approval of the conductor.
Samosud, who repeatedly acted as the head of the main musical premieres, began to rebuild the dramaturgy of the opera. His experience as a musician and stage director on the MALEGOT stage was indisputable: the conductor more than once had to adapt and rewrite the dubious scores of the first Soviet operas in the new country, which were written by composers inside the theater, that is, with the direct participation of directors. At the request of the Samosud, Prokofiev completed two additional paintings: “The Ball at the Catherine’s Grandee” and “The Military Council in Fili”. The composer opposed the amendments, for example, for a long time he did not agree to write a scene, in his words - "a banal opera ball with polonaises, waltzes and mazurkas", which Samosud insisted on. But, in the end, the famous "Natasha's First Ball" became the central and recognizable theme of the entire opera.
Pokrovsky noted in his memoirs: "Lynching and Dmitriev imagined that the performance" War and Peace "should be like a monument - something pretentious, patriotically sublime." At the same time, seven scenes of the play (out of eight) told about peaceful life Tolstoy's heroes - there were no signs of patriotism and the coming war either in the stage or in the musical material. The first rehearsals immediately showed that in the performance, in the words of Pokrovsky himself: "There will be no pathos, but with the heart and the truth it will turn out."
The artist Vladimir Dmitriev, in his work on the scenery, sought to reveal the poetic mood. He was interested in the emotional atmosphere of the opera, color subtext. The artist heard music immediately in plastic and color incarnations. Within the volume of the MALEGOT stage, he conveyed the feeling of a huge space. For example, Valerian Bogdanov-Berezovsky recalled how "after the twilight of a summer night in Otradnoye, the light of the multi-column ballroom, splashing from the stage simultaneously with the first sounds of the orchestra's fanfare, blinded the eyes."
The artist's biographer V. Berezkin wrote that Dmitriev's works are permeated with one leitmotif: “a kind of female version of the “extra person” theme. Recall that it was Dmitriev who designed the premiere of D. Shostakovich's opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District in MALEGOT. All the theatrical work of the artist is a tragic version of women's fate in the conditions of Russian reality: proud and beautiful, they are infinitely lonely in the world around them. This was also reflected in the work on the scenery for "War and Peace" - the most striking character in Prokofiev's fresco was Natasha Rostova.
This role in the performance was performed by the young singer Tatyana Lavrova. Musician Yuri Shalyt, who personally knew the singer, said that “Lavrova’s sincerity and spiritual simplicity allowed her to go on stage in this part until recent years theater work. In the scene of the ball, Natasha Lavrova was so spontaneous, tremulous and charmingly excited that every time it seemed: today this ball is her first.
The lyrical tone of the performance, the design - the shadow of foliage and the glare of trees on the facades of Dmitriev's scenery, the mise-en-scenes built according to the principles of psychological theater, the emphasis on the foreground, emphasizing the acting of the actors - nothing distracted the audience from the emotional experiences of Tolstoy's heroes.
However, the depiction of the peaceful life of Tolstoy's nobility did not prevent critics from seeing in the performance the "spirit of noble patriotism", because postwar period dictated its own rules and criteria. V. Bogdanov-Berezovsky wrote: “The production conveys the gradual maturation of the atmosphere of the coming people's war. And so the last picture of the performance - Borodino - despite the static nature, is perceived as natural - solemn, in the spirit of an ode, an epilogue.
The first part of "War and Peace" was a huge success. For this performance, Samuil Samosud, Boris Pokrovsky and Tatyana Lavrova were awarded the Stalin Prizes of the First Degree. In all reviews of the production, critics correlated the images of the performance with Tolstoy's characters. The effect of "recognition" of classical literary heroes provided the performance with a regular release. During the 1946/1947 season, the performance ran 50 times. The premiere of the second part was scheduled for the summer of 1947, then the dates were shifted to September, to the date of the 135th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino. Rehearsals reached the final run, but the artistic council did not accept the production. Prokofiev and Samosud, at the request of the artistic council, continued to edit the dramaturgy, trying to bring disparate scenes into a consistent structure, but the second wave of the struggle against formalism and, in particular, the decision of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of 1948 on Vano Muradeli's opera "The Great Friendship" finally stopped work on the release performance.
The resolution dealt with composers who adhere to an “anti-people” direction in their work. It turned out that in the works of "comrades" Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Shebalin, Khachaturian, Myaskovsky, "formalist perversions, anti-democratic tendencies in music, alien to the Soviet people and their artistic tastes, are especially clearly represented."
In particular, about Prokofiev's opera in 1949, the magazine "Teatr" published an article by musicologist Elena Grosheva: positive aspects historical life. The monumental canvas has turned into scattered, kaleidoscopic frames, senselessly replacing each other. The images of Tolstoy appeared before the viewer in a negative, distorted image beyond recognition.
What inspired critics a year ago is the connection between Prokofiev's dramaturgy and cinema and the correspondence of opera characters literary images Tolstoy - has now been transformed, in the words of Grosheva, into "short characters-chants that say nothing to either the mind or the heart." Ideologically oriented criticism put an end to Prokofiev's opera.
And only ten years later, War and Peace was presented on the stage of MALEGOT in its entirety, including the first and second parts of the opera. The performance was shown on March 26, 1955 - in the second stage edition conducted by Eduard Grikurov. But Prokofiev himself, who passed away in 1953 on the same day as Stalin, was not destined to see on stage the final version of the musical epic opera he had conceived. The theater dedicated the performance to "blessed memory eminent figures Soviet art of the composer S.S. Prokofiev and V.V. Dmitriev". Boris Pokrovsky was again invited as a director, who was offered to restore the mise-en-scenes of the 1946 performance. Any suggestions of the director to change something (for example, move apart the columns in the second picture) were resolutely suppressed by the artistic council.
In the era of the thaw, recitativeness and cinematographic techniques in Prokofiev’s opera were already perceived not as a drawback, but as the main feature of the composer’s dramaturgy: “A penchant for episodic character, juxtaposition of sharp characteristics, brightly outlined portraits, dramaturgy of contrasts, laconicism are the basis of Prokofiev’s style,” wrote the reviewer “ Soviet culture". Musicologist Elena Grosheva also changes her critical opinion, focusing on new party tasks: “War and Peace” is the most important part last decade creative biography of an outstanding composer. This period of Prokofiev's activity was marked, perhaps, by the most intense struggle for a realistic style, from which he emerged victorious.
Political regimes change, time-tested art remains. The new performance ran for one hundred and forty-five performances on the stage of MALEGOT.
Illustrations:
Ball. Scene from the play.
At Ellen. Scene from the play.
Otradnoe. Scenery sketch.
In the photo: S. Samosud, M. Mendelssohn-Prokofiev, S. Prokofiev.
Literature:
Berezkin V.I.V.V. Dmitriev. M., 1984.
Bogdanov-Berezovsky V. "War and Peace" // Leningradskaya Pravda. 1946. June 13. C.4.
Gozenpud A. Natasha Rostova at an opera performance // Gozenpud A. Selected articles. L., 1971. S. 124.
Grosheva E. Where is the Soviet Opera? // Theater. 1949. No. 11.
Grosheva E. Collective of creative searches // Soviet culture. 1956. July 19. C.3.
Druskin M. Prokofiev's Musical Theater // Selected. M., 1981
B.A. Pokrovsky stages Soviet opera. M., 1989.
WAR AND PEACE - opera by S. Prokofiev in 5 days (13 k.) with a choral prologue, libretto by the composer and M. Mendelssohn-Prokofiev based on the novel of the same name by L. Tolstoy. First performances of the 1st edition (concert): Moscow, October 16, 1944, WTO Soviet Opera Ensemble (fragments, with piano accompaniment); Moscow, June 7, 1945 (accompanied by an orchestra, conducted by S. Samosud). The first performances of the 2nd edition: I part (1-8th k.) - Leningrad, Maly Opera House, June 12, 1946, conducted by S. Samosud; Part II (9th-13th grade) - Leningrad, Maly Opera Theatre, July 20, 1947 (general rehearsal); of the entire opera (concert) - June 29, 1953, WTO Soviet Opera Ensemble (accompanied by piano); abridged version (in 11 k.) - Leningrad, Maly Opera House, March 31, 1955, conducted by E. Grikurov; Kyiv, Theatre. Shevchenko, November 3, 1956, conducted by A. Klimov; full version(all 13 k., but with cuts) - Moscow, Musical Theater. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko, November 8, 1957, conducted by A. Shaverdov; Moscow, Bolshoi Theater of the USSR, December 15, 1959, conducted by A. Melik-Pashayev (with a prologue); completely in the form of a dilogy (without cuts, but with rearrangements) - Perm, November 5 and December 26, 1982, conducted by V. Rylov.
Great Patriotic War determined the idea and creation of the opera written in the 1st edition (in 4 days, 10 k.) during the winter of 1941 and the beginning of the spring of 1942. However, the original version did not satisfy the author, who realized the shortcomings of the scenario dramaturgy of this version, focused at the show of Natasha's fate, although he understood the impossibility of fitting the novel into the framework of the libretto. Hence the search for a more harmonious and capacious dramatic form, the selection of episodes necessary to create an organic whole. The 2nd edition was created by 1946, but some changes were made in the future.
Prokofiev sought to ensure that the theme of the war and the patriotic deed of the Russian people took the leading place in the performance. This is how the scene of the military council in Fili appeared in the 2nd edition, then Kutuzov's aria. Folk scenes were expanded, many episodes were added. The idea grew into a two-night performance. The composer did not work on any of his works with such love, persistently seeking the most faithful transmission of the ideological content of the great novel. Prokofiev did not see War and Peace on stage in full, although he passionately strove for this. Shortly before his death, he made an abridged, one-night edition of the opera, first staged in Leningrad (1955). To make it easier for the theatre, two pictures were excluded. However, later a way was found to overcome the difficulties, and the opera is performed in its entirety at the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Theatres.
Prokofiev's "War and Peace" is a work of mighty power and expressiveness. The libretto is based on the original text of the novel, which has not been subjected to poetic processing. The composer set himself the task of conveying not so much the words as the intonation of the speech of Tolstoy's heroes. The declamatory expressiveness of the recitative reaches enormous power.
The opera, as it were, is divided into two parts: the world - the first seven scenes and the war - the last six (its image first appears in the finale of the 7th c., with the news of Napoleon's invasion). In this construction, Prokofiev followed Tolstoy, although a premonition of the inevitability of a military conflict is already given in the first “peaceful” chapters of the novel.
A dramatic staging cannot convey the entire wealth of themes, ideas, images of a book, especially such a brilliant and multifaceted one as Tolstoy's epic. In the center of the events of the first half of the opera is the love story of Natasha and Prince Andrei, Natasha's passion for Anatole. This essential side of the novel is embodied in the music with amazing depth. No less deeply and strongly expressed is the theme of Russia, which has risen to fight the enemy. Prokofiev was able to convey the fundamental difference between the high and spiritual patriotism, the epic greatness of Kutuzov and the adventurism, the hysterically inflated bravado of Napoleon. In music, a large place is occupied by tender, poetic, sincere lyrics, the bearer of which is Natasha; her image in the opera adequately continues the traditions of Glinka, Tchaikovsky, and especially Rimsky-Korsakov (quivering tenderness, fragility of intonations bring her closer to the Snow Maiden). However, in Natasha there is not only purity and defenselessness, but also childish courage, willpower, spiritual nobility. Lyrics - the most strong quality heroine image. The atmosphere surrounding her is poetic. The lyrical element culminates in a brilliant waltz, symbolizing the flowering of the girl's love for Prince Andrei. The waltz is inextricably linked in Andrey's mind with the image of Natasha. Carrying out the same theme in the scene of the last meeting of the dying prince with Natasha switches the lyrics into a dramatic plan.
Prokofiev is a master of sculpting characters, revealing the image through intonation. The speech characteristics of not only the main characters, but even for a moment appearing heroes (old Prince Bolkonsky) are unique. The composer's "intonation grasp" convinces of the absolute vitality of each of the characters. Widely applying the recitative-declamatory principle, Prokofiev uses ariose constructions and choirs. His score, organically connected with the classical tradition, rethinks it in a peculiar way. Recitative is usually a sign of dramatic opera, ariose rounded forms are more likely to be inherent in lyrical and epic. Prokofiev combines epic, lyrical and dramatic beginnings, ariosity and declamation. Many episodes and entire pages of "War and Peace" are at the level of the highest achievements of classical art. Such, in particular, is the scene of the deathbed delirium of Andrei Bolkonsky (12th grade), which has few equals in world opera literature.
Prokofiev's opera won the ardent love of domestic and foreign listeners. In 1953, it was first performed abroad with great success - at the Florentine Musical May festival (at Italian, with the participation of outstanding singers: E. Bastianini - Andrei Bolkonsky, F. Corelli - Pierre Bezukhov), then staged in Milan ("La Scala"), Prague, Sofia, Leipzig, New York and many other cities. Outstanding performances were performed by B. Pokrovsky at the Moscow Bolshoi Theater (1959) and the Kirov Theater in Leningrad (1977, directed by Y. Temirkanov). The production of War and Peace in St. Petersburg, at the Mariinsky Theater, in 1991 (together with the London Covent Garden, directed by V. Gergiev) and in 2000 (directed by V. Gergiev, directed by A . Konchalovsky).
Lyrical and dramatic siennas in thirteen scenes based on L. Tolstoy's novel War and Peace. Libretto by Sergei Prokofiev and Mira Mendelssohn-Prokofiev.
First performance - concert, June 7, 1945. The first production on stage was on June 12, 1946 in Leningrad at the Maly Opera House.
The main characters: Prince Andrei Bolkonsky - baritone (high); Natasha Rostova - lyric-dramatic soprano; Sonya - mezzo-soprano; Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova - mezzo-soprano; Ilya Andreevich Rostov - bass-baritone; Pierre Bezukhov - tenor; Anatole Kuragin - tenor; Helen Bezukhova - viola; Dolokhov - bass; Princess Mary - mezzo-soprano; Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky - bass; Balaga, coachman - bass; Gypsy Matreshka - viola; Dunyasha, the Rostovs' maid - soprano; Denisov - baritone; Matveev - bass; Commander-in-Chief Kutuzov - bass; Napoleon - baritone; Romball - bass; Bonet, lieutenant - tenor; Platon Karataev - tenor. Total number the actors of this opera, which consists of two parts, exceeds 70. In addition, a choir appears on the stage and whole line minor characters.
The action takes place in Russia.
Picture one. House in the estate of the Rostovs. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky is visiting them. He seeks rest and oblivion. On a warm May night, standing at the window of his room, Prince Andrei hears Natasha singing in her room. Her song is a confession of a pure, unspoiled soul, reflecting the innocent secrets of a girl. Listening to Natasha's singing, Andrei falls in love with her, not yet seeing, not knowing her.
Picture two. A big ball in an aristocratic house, where the king himself comes. Natasha is also at the ball: she is going out into the world for the first time. In the presence of the king, everyone is extremely reserved; with his departure, the mood of the dancers immediately rises. Pierre Bezukhov appears, the well-known "freethinker", both in behavior and in clothes, sharply different from his aristocratic friends. His friend Andrei Bolkonsky also came with him. Pierre notices that Natasha is not dancing and advises Andrei to invite her. While the handsome Andrei is dancing with Natasha, Pierre thinks about how happy he could be with Natasha. His reverie is interrupted by Count Rostov, Natasha's father, who invites Pierre to visit them.
Picture three. More than a year has passed. Natasha has long been the bride of Prince Andrei, but at the request of his father, the wedding was postponed, and Andrei himself went abroad for a year. Count Rostov and Natasha come to the old prince Bolkonsky, but he does not order to receive them. He believes that neither in their origin nor in their condition, the Rostovs are no match for their family. Natasha is deeply offended by the hostile reception. In vain, Andrei's sister, Princess Marya, tries to console Natasha, who has been offended to the depths of her soul.
Picture four. Salon of Pierre Bezukhov's wife, Helen. Helen, who is unfamiliar with deep feelings, brings the unsuspecting Natasha together with her brother Anatole Kuragin. A young girl finds herself defenseless against tried and tested methods of winning women's hearts. Kuragin offers Natasha to release her from the cage of a boring family circle by "kidnapping" her, promising her love and happiness.
Picture five. The apartment of Dolokhov, a friend of Anatole Kuragin. A plan to kidnap Natasha is being discussed.
Picture six. In the house of a good friend of the Rostovs, the old woman Akhrosimova, Natasha is waiting for Anatole Kuragin, who is supposed to take her away. However, instead of Anatole, Pierre Bezukhov appears, having learned about the impending kidnapping. Pierre informs Natasha that Kuragin is already married and that escaping would bring her not love and a happy future, but shame and death.
Picture seven. Guests are gathering in Pierre's house. Helen Bezukhova's brother, Anatole Kuragin, also comes. Pierre severely reprimands him for his callousness towards Natasha and orders him to leave Moscow immediately.
Pierre is left alone and indulges in thoughts about his own fate, failed love and a fruitless life.
The appearance of Denisov interrupts his meditation. Denisov tells Pierre that Napoleon has drawn a huge army to the Russian border.
Picture eight. Parking of Russian troops near Borodino. Peasants and soldiers are digging trenches, preparing for the upcoming battle with the Napoleonic army. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky recalls Natasha, his love for her and the grief that she brought him.
Pierre appears between the trenches. It doesn't have military uniform, he is in civilian clothes and came here to witness the "battle of the nations." However, no matter how hard he tries to hide it, it is clear that he is not here just to "be a witness". Pierre wants to become a participant in the battle on which the fate of all of Russia depends.
Soldiers and peasants greet the commander-in-chief of the Russian army Kutuzov. The Battle of Borodino begins.
Picture nine. Napoleon's headquarters. The emperor is watching the battle, the roar of which is heard here. But in vain he waits for news of the victory: the messengers ask for more and more reinforcements.
Suddenly, a grenade tears the tricolor French flag to shreds.
Picture ten. Military council in Fili. The generals are discussing the actions that should follow the Battle of Borodino. Kutuzov unwaveringly insists on his plan: complete retreat. Moscow must be surrendered to the enemy.
Picture eleven. French soldiers pass through the streets of Moscow. They barely move under the weight of the loot. Clenching their fists, the inhabitants look at the marauders. Pierre mingles with the crowd. A plan took possession of his soul: to kill Bonaparte. For this, he is ready to give his life.
Residents set fire to their houses. The French arrest and take away the first people they come across. Pierre is arrested along with others.
Pierre miraculously manages to avoid being shot. He falls into a crowd of prisoners, where he meets with a simple Russian soldier, a peasant Platon Karataev. The humanity, warmth and simplicity of Karataev are qualities inherent in the suffering, but still heroically struggling Russian people.
The prisoners are taken away. The fire rages furiously. The first French fugitives appear - Napoleon's court actors.
Struck by the unexpected turn of events, Napoleon looks at the city, burning like a torch. He did not expect such selfless resistance.
Picture twelve. Far in the rear, in a cramped peasant hut, something like a small infirmary has been set up, in which there is a small group of the wounded. Among them is the unconscious, delirious Prince Andrei. He is mortally wounded. In delirium, it seems to Andrei that he sees Natasha again, hears her voice, as then, on a May night, when he involuntarily overheard her singing. But the vision becomes reality. Natasha is standing in front of Bolkonsky. Andrei dies in her arms.
Scene thirteen. The defeated French army retreats to Smolensk. The French and prisoners are being driven there. With them, Pierre and Karataev. Sick Platon Karataev cannot go any further. A French soldier who has jumped up to him shoots at him point-blank. Russian partisans attack the French column and free the prisoners. Pierre learns from Denisov that his wife Helen has died.
Kutuzov appears on the stage and announces the good news to the soldiers and peasants gathered around him: Napoleon's army was defeated, the French emperor left the battlefield defeated.
The people, rejoicing, welcome Kutuzov and the victorious Russian weapons.
