Chekhov's the seagull: an opera

Abstract

Chekhov’s The Seagull: An Opera is a four-act opera based on Anton Chekhov’s famous Russian tragicomedy of the same name. A recurrent theme is the continued oppression and erosion of the innocence and idealism of the younger characters by their older counterparts. Konstantin, and Nina, begin the drama as lovers and aspiring artists, but by Act Four they are estranged from each other, and the world. The opera is scored for a chamber orchestra and eight vocalists (four main characters and four chorus members) and is approximately one hour long. The libretto was adapted from an English translation by Carol Rocamora. Despite multiple cuts and revisions to the text the original four acts of the play remain intact in the opera. Unlike previous musical adaptations of The Seagull, this opera uses post-tonal harmonic language and novel textures which serve to present the narrative from a post-structuralist viewpoint.