Yevgeny Onegin

In 1830 Alexander Pushkin published his novel in verse Eugene Onegin, a masterpiece of Russian literature that is at once a satire of a society plagued by ennui and a melodramatic flight of fancy. In 1881 Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky translated this plot into ‘lyrical scenes’. The music is wholly used to articulate the feelings of the characters while the orchestra seeks to unify the musical idiom by means of compulsive themes of great subtlety. After his recent forays into the Russian repertoire, Alain Altinoglu will turn his attention to a score that is characteristic of the ‘lyrical truth’ dear to Tchaikovsky. Frustrated human beings, the playthings of fate, are at the heart of Laurent Pelly’s staging. The minimalist set design will underline the lightness and sadness of the subject while providing a setting conducive to the expression of the characters’ fantasies and inner torments.