This isn"t Disney"s Snow White. Schneewittchen (a.k.a. "Snow White") is a postmodern dramatic meditation based on the work of Robert Walser (1878-1956), a Swiss poet and playwright. His text is more concerned with examining the psychological states and dreamlike fantasies of the protagonists than with linear plot development leading to a happy ending. No dwarves, either, just perpetual confrontations between Snow White and the wicked Queen, the Queen"s huntsman lover, and a fickle Prince who rescues Snow White, declares his love, and then is turned on by the Queen. Walser"s characters are all different facets of a single personality. Heinz Holliger opens the opera by having them sing in unison before taking on their distinctive roles. So it"s a cerebral opera, but the music makes sense of it. Holliger writes brilliant declamatory passages, constantly commented upon and elaborated by the orchestra, with silvery upper-register instruments sometimes acting as a halo around the voices; elsewhere, it"s percussion that carries the message. His luminous orchestration, like the often radiant vocal lines, tosses fragments of melodies about like so much falling snow, making the listening less forbidding than the telling. The singers are nothing short of magnificent. Banse as Snow White and Kalisch as the Queen are particularly effective in managing their high-flying lines and making the drama a visceral experience. Superb sound and production values match the outstanding performance. --Dan Davis