'After Chekhov' declares the title-page of this opera by Peter Eotvos: and although the text remains in Russian the theatrical experience offered here is likely to be quite different from that offered by the original play, which has been so radically adapted and recast by librettist (Claus Henneberg) and composer that a Russian translator is credited.
Not the least of the composer's liberties is casting the three sisters as countertenors and the old servant Anfisa as a bass. The effect of this - at least where the sisters are concerned - is more to do with stylization than send-up (in keeping with the Japanese-style production at Lyon), although the way these voices revert to conventional male registers in spoken passages can be disconcerting. Nevertheless, operas stand or fall through their music, and as music Three Sisters strikes me as only intermittently successful.
Eotvos is no hardline latter-day modernist, and those episodes which hint at the expressionistic complexities of precedents like Zimmermann's Die Soldaten or Reimann's Lear tend to be relatively featureless in character. On the other hand, there are enough passages of tender reflectiveness and sustained lyricism - at least one of which recalls the delicately consonant passacaglia from Ligeti's Le grand macabre - to make me wish that there were many more. Kent Nagano, as principal conductor, and Eotvos himself directing the back-stage ensemble, deserve credit for ensuring that these passages make as much impact as they do. But for me the immediate effect of the opera as a whole was far less compelling than it might have been because I found it so hard to follow the printed Russian text. Since there are Russians aplenty in the cast, there can be no question of inaccuracy on their part: it's rather that Eotvos seems to be working on the idealistic principle that many listenings will be needed before his work is fully understood.
Of the singers Denis Sedov makes a strong impression as the eloquent suitor of one of the sisters, but I wasn't aware of any obvious weaknesses, and all three countertenors do well in conveying so many essential Chekhovian qualities. A special feature is that the last three tracks on Disc 2 (25 minutes worth), devoted to an introductory 'listening guide', presented by the composer in English, German and French. Though I applaud the principle, an introduction which summarizes the story and plays just a few of the more melodious moments risks misleading listeners who need to know about the nature of the whole experience on offer, not least its stylistic range. In this case, the excellent booklet offers a more illuminating introduction to the wary potential purchaser.'