Based on Anton Chekhov’s play, Three Sisters, Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s one-act ballet is unequivocally a masterpiece, revealing as it does the intricate relationship of the characters trapped in the stultifying atmosphere of a Russian provincial town at the turn of the 20th century.

In this studio recording, Darcey Bussell dances the role of Masha, the sister married to a boring, worthy schoolteacher, danced by Anthony Dowell, and drawn into an adulterous affair with Colonel Vershinin, danced with passionate intensity and thrilling virtuosity by Irek Mukhamedov.