Art in the Age of Globalisation: Dialogue of Cultures (Ural Opera Ballet Theatre’s Production of the Opera Tri Sestry)

Abstract

The article explores the dialogics of art and the role of art as a tool of dialogue between cultures on the example of the Ural Opera Ballet Theatre’s recent stage production of the opera Tri Sestry (Three Sisters), which demonstrates a successful interaction between different cultural traditions. Interpreting Chekhov’s play from a late 20th century perspective, Hungarian composer Peter Eötvös presented new responses to the questions that tormented the play’s characters one hundred years ago. In his work, which blends French and German avant-garde techniques with structural elements drawn from film narrative and the Japanese Noh theatre tradition, he added a radically new dimension to Chekhov’s play. As a result, he was able to open up latent meanings the play within the great time space proposed by the Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin. In turn, Christopher Alden (USA), the Artistic Director of the Ural Opera Ballet production, merged voices from different artistic traditions into a new contemporary musical image.