The Electrification of the Soviet Union, Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham

The Russian Revolution revisited

The problem for many opera composers today is not so much attracting commissions as securing subsequent productions from companies more likely to attract sponsorship and media attention with a glitzy new piece. In the case of Nigel Osborne, whose own attention is clearly more focused on his humanitarian work in Mostar than on pushing his music, it's 15 years since The Electrification of the Soviet Union was commissioned by Glyndebourne. Now, thanks to an enlightened choice by Music Theatre Wales for its extensive British and international touring programme, the opera stands a chance of establishing itself, especially if an imaginative recording company takes it up, too.

Under the sympathetic musical and stage direction of Michael Rafferty and Michael McCarthy, The Electrification of the Soviet Union comes across, in its new chamber version, as a highly accomplished and engrossing work, challenging though it is for performers. In reducing the instrumentation for the 14-strong MTW Ensemble, Osborne has retained the work's lyrical power and revealed more of the score's fascinating detail without changing a single note. Only the pre-recorded tape is new, the original one having gone missing somewhere in a publisher's dusty archive.

The libretto, by Craig Raine, is based on an autobiographical novella and a poem by Boris Pasternak. The young poet, Serezha Spectorsky, involved with a governess and a prostitute, struggles to make sense of love, war and revolution, and his own artistic creativity. The action moves easily between 1914 and 1920, catching most of the words thanks to the pared-down accompaniment. Jeremy Huw Williams is outstanding as Spectorsky, uncomprehending and bewildered as if caught in a maelstrom. Marianne Andersen is an assured governess (the surprising development of whose character gives a twist to the epilogue) and Sally Silver expands comfortably into the role of Sashka, the tart with a heart.

Gwion Thomas is Pasternak, binding the structure with his presence on stage throughout, re-arranging events in his mind as sure-footedly as he re-organises the simple set. The cinema projector whirrs on as we watch, through his mind's eye, events unfolding in the life of the young poet. His banal revolutionary hymn frames the opera but the rest of the music is better, from the governess's touching lament, "I died the day my husband died", to Spectorsky's passion- ate paean extolling the virtues of Sashka's 42-year-old body, her every nook and cranny inspiring a remarkable melodic outburst.

The angular staging may have the basic durability demanded of a long touring production but it comple-ments the imaginative way Osborne has moulded the music to Raine's dramatic sensibility. Between the sentiment and the subversiveness of The Electrification, Music Theatre Wales find unexpected subtlety and moments of genuine emotion, reminding us in their illuminating revival what an important new addition to British opera this was in 1987.

Aberystwyth Arts Centre, 30 July (01970 623 232); touring this autumn (029-2049 8471 and www.musictheatrewales.org.uk)