Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin

First performed in Moscow in 1879, Eugene Onegin is an opera in three acts drawing its inspiration from Alexander Pushkin's novel. Considered by many as the "archetypal work of Russian Romanticism," Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin avoids overly theatrical effects for the exploration of the deeper psychology of the main characters, three romantic heroes each with a solitary destiny: Tatiana, a Romanesque young woman, Onegin, a distant dandy hiding emptiness under affected haughtiness, and Lenski, the idealistic poet. Between these three, personal vices create the climate for inexorable social ruin.

This production of Eugene Onegin was presented at the opening of the 2008-2009 season of the Paris Opera. It encountered great success thanks to a vocal line-up of the highest order with notably the baritone Mariusz Kwiecień and the Bolshoi Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Alexander Vedernikov, but also thanks to an exceptional stage direction by Dmitri Tcherniakov.