War and Peace was a momentous event in the history of the San Francisco Opera, indeed in the annals of all opera worldwide. Robert Commanday, writing in the Chronicle on September 9, 1991, said, “Prokofiev’s epic War and Peace—that vivid flashback to two convulsions in Russia’s turbulent past, the wars of 1812 and 1939—was introduced here Saturday night by the San Francisco Opera. The grandness of the production—with its 73 roles and cast of hundreds—was set off in greater relief by wonderful strokes of chance. The production’s appearance at this epochal moment catches the audience at its deepest, most sympathetic awareness of Russia and the agonies of its history.”

He was referring to the heady, world-shaking events of those days. On Sunday, August 18th, Gorbachev was ousted, and troops were ordered to head for Moscow, in an eerie re-enactment of events in the opera. The ultra-right-wing Gang of Eight was attempting a coup. It failed, but it had considerable results: Yeltsin declared the era of Communism over and suspended all activities of the Party. (By late December, the Soviet Union had ceased to exist.) The mostly Russian cast was enormously affected by these events (the coup having taken place during rehearsals) and brought an emotional charge to their performances.

The conjoining of the forces of the Kirov and SFO marked the first time such cooperation had taken place between a Russian and an American company. Conceived by Lotfi Mansouri and brought into being by Sarah Billinghurst, it not only featured the American debut of Valery Gergiev and several other artists (Ognovenko, Zaremba) who have gone on to revolutionize the opera world, it brought this masterpiece to the forefront and began an unprecedented era in the rediscovery of Russian opera all over the world. Our company has greatly benefited as well, with many other artists from the Kirov (Netrebko, Larin, etc.) taking our fair city by storm in productions and co-productions since then.

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War and Peace was epic in every respect. Even the costumes—many borrowed from the 1956 Audrey Hepburn / Henry Fonda film of the novel—were richly splendid. Four hours of music with thirteen separate tableaux, including invading armies, the burning of Moscow, Napoleon and his horse, and a chorus sung by the entire population of Russia (or so it seemed) challenged the company’s resources and ingenuity to the breaking-point. One hundred and sixty Supers (at least—reports vary) were on hand to portray French Hussars, Gérard and Jacquot soldiers and officers; and Russian Kutuzov officers, Ismailov guards, Cossacks, grenadiers, chasseurs, gypsies, prisoners, and casualties.

The rehearsals took place in five languages. Occasionally, this made for great amusement. Once Russian soldiers were carrying sandbags to build a barricade and Parisian director Jérôme Savary proclaimed, “No, they must look like kilos not pillows.” (In his inimitable accent, they rhymed.) Another time we were rehearsing the scene in which the French soldiers (chorus and Supers) pour into Moscow. Monsieur Savary observed the first pass at the scene and then spoke into the house mike, “When you go on stage, you must show a penis.” Dead silence, quizzical looks, followed by raucous laughter from the entire cast. After a frantic consultation with an aide, he once again took up the mike: " ‘appiness! You must show ‘appiness!”

Supers were, for the first time in SFO history, pretty much forbidden to be in the house except when on stage. We were dressed in Zellerbach Hall and then paraded to the house up Franklin Street, often to the consternation of motorists and passers-by who believed San Francisco was being invaded. This parade made both Herb Caen and Channel 2 News.

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Many of today’s Supers came to SFO having debuted in War and Peace. It was a monumental production in every sense, and today, thirteen years later, we pay it tribute.

~ Mark Burstein, ex-W&P chasseur

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