Sealed
– Olga Knipper, Anton Chekhov, and 857 love letters

Sealed - Olga Knipper, Anton Chekhov, and 857 love letters is a performance that combines music and solo theater. The work brings together a trio consisting of actress-pianist Elina Mustonen, pianist-composer Olli Mustonen, and director-dramaturg Johanna Freundlich. The piano music in this work is heard both from Olli Mustonen's studio recordings and live, played by Elina Mustonen – sometimes even as duets between the two! The piece creates a unique musical dramaturgy, where spoken word and music from various sources playfully interact. All music heard is piano music composed by Olli Mustonen specifically for this performance. 

​

The performance was inspired by the powerful allure of the legendary playwright Anton Chekhov's correspondence with his trusted actress and beloved wife, Olga Knipper. Olga had a dazzling career in Moscow, while Anton wrote and tended to his deteriorating health in Yalta. Circumstances pulled them geographically apart, yet it was precisely this that allowed future generations to document their relationship, preserved in the form of over 800 letters. Anton died prematurely, and Olga continued her life for more than 50 years after that, never remarrying. The current performance highlights Olga Knipper's perspective on the couple's shared journey of six years.

 

The couple's letters exude love for each other and the theater, yet both also sometimes push them to their limits. In Olga's words: "Sometimes I hate the theater intensely, at other times I love it. It has given me life and made me a human. Before the theater, I was languishing; life was alien to me, people were alien to me, and so were their feelings."

 

Music played an important role in Olga Knipper's life. She was a skilled pianist and supported herself as a piano teacher before her acting career. Several female characters in Chekhov's plays are also adept pianists – perhaps here life imitates art, and art imitates life. In the performance, Olga steps into the shoes of her most beloved roles – Arkadina in "The Seagull," Elena in "Uncle Vanya," Masha in "Three Sisters," and Ranevskaya in "The Cherry Orchard." The latter roles were written specifically for Olga by Chekhov – here too, fiction and fact walked hand in hand.

​

Cast and crew

 

Elina Mustonen, actress and pianist

Olli Mustonen, music

Johanna Freundlich, script and direction

Production: Production team