Dominick Argento - A Few Words About Chekhov  

  
This 20-minute cycle was premiered in 1996 by Frederica von Stade, Håkan Hagegård and Martin Katz. With a text based on letters and a memoir, it communicates the relationship of Anton Chekhov and Olga Knipper from their meeting in 1898, through their marriage, to his untimely death in 1904. An orchestrated version (2001) is available on rental.