Eugene Onegin

A sceptical, bored and indecisive young man and an idealistic, sensitive and passionate young woman who always meet at the wrong time and in the wrong place – this is the story of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s opera “Eugene Onegin”. Young Tatyana is in love with Eugene, who does not attach much importance to love and rejects her. At a ball, he insults Tatyana’s brother Lensky, who challenges him to a duel, in which Lensky is killed. Jaded by life’s disappointments, Onegin returns to the country years later, where he encounters Tatyana, who is married by now and has grown into a much-admired lady of society. Onegin realises that he loves her, but it is too late. Tatyana decidedly refuses Onegin’s advances and remains faithful to her husband.

In this deeply emotional opera full of melodic beauty, Tchaikovsky combines popular Russian melodies with classical European traditions, thus creating a unique musical idiom. The oppositions between the characters’ inner conflicts and the external expectations of society make “Eugene Onegin” a profound work that explores both personal and universal themes, such as love, regret and human fallibility.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) began working on “Eugene Onegin” (based on the eponymous novel in verse by Alexander Pushkin) in 1877. Following the success of his ballets “The Nutcracker” and “Swan Lake”, he also wanted to make a name for himself as an opera composer and was under much pressure to live up to public expectations. The opera’s first performance in front of a large audience took place on 23 January 1881 at the Bolshoi Theatre and was enthusiastically received.

Together with her tried and tested team of stage designer Philip Rubner and costume designer Su Bühler, director Alexandra Liedtke is tackling this grand work of Russian opera. Relying on their combined experience in Austria and abroad, the team have repeatedly presented productions at the Salzburg State Theatre. Their staging of the opera explores the complex psychological processes in Tchaikovsky’s work.