Peter Eötvös: Three Sisters | Salzburg Festival

8., 12., 21., 24. August 2025.
Felsenreitschule
5020 Salzburg, Hofstallgasse 1.

Chekhov’s characters do not express everything they feel and think in words — much takes place in the pauses that are so typical of the author, and which are marked in the text.
Peter Eötvös’ (1944 - 2024) music also interprets what is left unsaid, doing admirable justice to Chekhov’s psychological complexity. It captivates from the prologue’s very first bars, played by an accordion. The instrumental soundscape of the opera is shaped by two ensembles, with a 50-strong offstage orchestra complementing the 18 musicians in the pit. Eötvös cast the roles of the three sisters and Natasha as countertenors. This unusual decision arose from a desire to achieve emotional authenticity beyond the boundaries of gender through an element of abstraction.
Since its world premiere in Lyon, Three Sisters has established itself on the international stage as one of the most fascinating works of contemporary musical theatre. Evgeny Titov has been engaged to direct this new production for Salzburg: after triumphs in straight theatre, he has been attracting attention since 2021 with opera stagings that are sensitive and perceptive, moving and intense in equal measure. Following the award-winning production of Bohuslav Martinů’s The Greek Passion, Maxime Pascal conducts his second fully staged opera at the Salzburg Festival.