When I down-sized my dwelling a few years ago I took zillions of books to a titled lady's cellar in Dublin street for the benefit of Christian Aid. Amongst them was a copy of War and Peace that had lain unread for decades. If I am ever motivated enough to read it I can always get a copy from the library could have been my excuse for ditching a major literary classic. Or maybe I thought I should hold off until I was in a position to read it in the original.

Heroically I held on to my copy of Ulysses (still unread at today's date although there is a postcard some tens of pages in so I may have made an attempt) thinking perhaps that while War and Peace is a story of far off foreign folk that would mean little to me Joyce's tale takes place just across the Irish Sea where 75% of my genes came from and so must speak to me.

I had the luck last night to check out what lessons I might learn from Tolstoy's epic without going to the bother of reading it thanks to the combined forces of Scottish Opera, the RSAMD and the Rostov-on-Don State Rachmaninov Conservatoire, who together mounted the world premiere of the original version of Prokofiev's operatic treatment of the story.

The Theatre Royal in Glasgow was not full to bursting which seems a shame for an event that one presumes is pretty significant even though it's a pro-am effort. I thought the ams were every bit as good as many pros I've seen and heard but as is not infrequent for an operatic experience I appreciated the production rather more than the material. Having said that there are some nice tunes and choruses and the death scene duet is magnificent.

The presentation is very much on the pro side with a versatile two level set, superb lighting, a large cast whose disposition in the space creates wonderful pictures, costumes to die for, efficient and intelligent flow from scene to scene, clever business - everything my own little production strives to achieve. Singers can't always act and actors can't always sing but I had little fault to find in either department. Mind you conscious of my own musical inabilities I'm quite generous when it comes to less than perfect singing even when my ears recognise its deficiencies. My man of the match award goes to the young man who played Napoleon for both his rich baritone and his convincing characterisation. Keep an eye and an ear open for Alexy Gusev in years to come.

And what of Tolstoy's tale? Well it's a fun blend of human interest and global politics. I might even read it one day.