And on the other hand, the chapters collectively intend to illuminate two contradictory trends in the valley: 1) "unity in diversity" as the reference to Sasha Kuprin who is one of the Fergana poets illustrates: "words like kishlak (village),
aryk (irrigation canal), chinar (oriental plane tree), bazaar, chaikhane (teahouse) and plov (pilaf) are not mere fragments of exotic vocabulary but worlds through which we experience a common time and destiny" (p.293); and 2) "diversity in unity" that reveals in the overlapping dual lives, languages, identities and loyalties existing in Fergana along with different fault lines in the Fergana states (especially chapters 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, and 13).
Albanian tenor Giuseppe Gipali made a stolid, vocally fearless Duke of Mantua in his North American debut performance, Armenian bass
Aryk Martirossian dominated the smaller roles as Sparafucile and American mezzo-soprano Buffy Baggott made a suitably voluptuous Maddalena in what turned out to be almost a United Nations cast.