Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin

The productions of Robert Carsen, though usually informed by an individual style, tend to be predictable only for their being polarizing. When his approach jells (when he has not decided that, say, IL TROVATORE should be a searing indictment of the petrochemical industry), one sees a kind of minimalism that (pace the editorial review above) is quite the opposite of "stark." Carsen has the talent and the insight to do well what some of his lesser contemporaries do badly. He knows that the bare minimum of props and subtle shifts in lighting and color in place of traditional stagecraft can lend a production mechanical ease and fluidity while in no way precluding lyric beauty or kinetic energy. A poignant tone is set for this ONEGIN by the literally autumnal look of its first half: during the prelude, the bereft Onegin is showered in brown and orange leaves that remain on the stage for the next several scenes. When the peasants pay tribute to Larina with a joyous rustic dance, it is not a meticulously choreographed display of grace and athleticism (as later dances, in more formal and sophisticated settings, will be) -- it looks chaotic, spontaneous, even amateurish, just as such a demonstration would be if one were in the village observing it. The early-morning duel between Onegin and Lensky is masterfully staged. The two men sing their respective interior monologues in preparation for the deadly showdown neither wants, and each reaches his hand out in the direction of the other, from a distance that is slight yet unbridgeable. The staging makes clear that this is a representational and not a literal gesture, and the moment is heartbreaking. The subsequent silhouetted portrayal of Lensky's shooting, followed by the bright sun rising on Onegin, his soul irreparably stained, is both arresting and haunting.But Carsen's greatest triumph is his demonstration of what usually is an asset even in his unsuccessful productions: an eye for subtext, and an ability to tease it out without assaulting his audience with it. This ONEGIN is not, as ONEGIN often is made to be, simply a tale of two people who would be a good match but have unfortunately misaligned timing; nor is it about a contemptible snob who gets his comeuppance in the end. Carsen astutely takes his cue from the first conversation we hear in the opera, that between Mother Larina and the nanny Filippyevna, both of whom loved and were loved passionately in youth but were led by pragmatism, duty, or necessity down a different path. "Heaven sends us habit instead of happiness," observes Larina, and in the next two and a half hours we will see our heroine, Tatyana, assume her place among these women. Along with habit, heaven can send us heartbreak.In the principal roles, Renée Fleming, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and Ramón Vargas are in sovereign voice, and the soprano in particular is a revelation. I will confess that while her work in the past has hardly been thoughtless, I did not believe she had a performance of such behavioral specificity and dramatic perception in her (accompanying mini-doc footage suggests a fruitful partnership between her, Hvorostovsky, and Peter McClintock, director of this 2007 revival of Carsen's production). From the opera's opening through the birthday party, Fleming precisely evokes an ingenuous and romantic young person on the precipice of womanhood: a gesture or expression of distinctly girlish excitement or impulsivity may be followed in short order by one that is more wistful or circumspect, suggesting the woman she will become. Her work has a marvelous reactive spontaneity. When Tatyana reappears in the opera's final two scenes as a society woman of refinement and reserve, we are right there with Onegin in admiring the transformation, but we (like Fleming, Carsen, and McClintock) know that while something precious has been gained, something equally precious has been extinguished, or at least will never burn so brightly again: zest, eagerness, trust, innocence. Heaven has brought something, and heaven has taken something in payment.Hvorostovsky, who has performed the title role with distinction for many years, recently has indicated a readiness to set it aside -- in that event, we are fortunate now to have deluxe documentation of his late thoughts on the character to supplement his earlier ones (on the Bychkov/Philips audio recording). It would be difficult to imagine a more ideal match of singer with character than Hvorostovsky with this vain, preeningly handsome, emotionally careless (but never uncaring) protagonist. Another of Carsen's shrewd touches, deftly enacted by Hvorostovsky, is to have Onegin barely pay attention to Lensky's initial round of charges at the birthday party. At a point when Onegin still has a window in which to defuse tension and avert tragedy, he does not even look at his angry friend; he remains seated, smirking and downing food and drink as if he is Giovanni patronizing a desperate Elvira. As has been noted elsewhere, Vargas's build, clothing, coif, and spectacles give this Lensky a striking (and apt, if intended) physical resemblance to another fragile, doomed poet/artist, Franz Schubert. Vargas is not the actor that his co-stars are, and is less comfortable with the Russian language than is any other featured singer on the stage, but when such gratifying lyric singing as his represents the weakest link, we obviously are dealing with a roster of unusual depth. Elena Zaremba (Olga) and especially Sergei Aleksashkin (a Gremin who quite looks the part) maintain the high musical standard; in smaller roles, Svetlana Volkova (Larina) and Larisa Shevchenko (Filippyevna) make their crucial points with warmth and appeal.Celebrity maestros often are fascinating to watch at work for their varying methods: Karajan's eyes-closed shamanistic sculpting; Bernstein's emotional and occasionally overwrought balletic demonstrations; Muti's solemn-faced aristocratic precision; Abbado's genial coaxing and nudging; Carlos Kleiber's exuberant elasticity; Richard Strauss's minimalist economy of means. And then, on some quite different list, there is Valery Gergiev, one of the least fetching conductors in terms of gesture and expression I have ever seen. The best description I can offer of his batonless technique to someone who has never seen it: imagine the imitation of a flamboyantly effeminate sorcerer by someone who despises that sorcerer. But however he chooses to communicate, he is no impediment to the Met Orchestra's predictably sumptuous reading of Tchaikovsky's score. The conductor's only truly questionable judgments are the taffy-pulling of Triquet's number (the tenor singing Triquet is obliged to serenade Tatyana at the slowest tempo I have ever heard in the piece, and then, as if to make up for lost time, the chorus's admiring responses are rushed -- it is rather like the release of a slingshot), and a too-hectic tempo for the dance music in the penultimate scene. On the whole, this ONEGIN deserves placement alongside the Scotto/Domingo MANON LESCAUT, the Troyanos TROYENS, and select others among the finest Met performances yet preserved for home viewing.

Having seen this production at the MET and HD transmission to the movies, this DVD is outstanding in every way and highly recommended as a worthy addition to your collection. For those who have seen the production at the MET, it will enhance your enjoyment of the individual performances with close-ups of facial expressions of singers and other interesting nuances and other little amusing things you might have missed if you were seated far from the stage. This DVD is specially beneficial to those seeing this opera for the first time because of the elimination of extraneous and distracting things, which allows you to focus on the dramatic and musical inputs of the protagonists more clearly.Having seen conventional, lavish productions of this opera in major houses, I had some apprehensions at first about how Act 3 would turn out stripped of the customary depiction of the opulence and splendor of St. Petersburg in Pushkin's time. With bare walls and just a few nice chairs around, the fantastic lighting effects and elegant coustumes made a big difference and saved this production from getting too "eurotrashy".For me, the most important achievement of this production is the righting of the unfair characterization by critics, past and present, of the role of the poet Lenski as the "weakest link" among the principals. From the very first time I saw this opera, I have always felt that Lenski's music was the most beautiful in the opera and that Tchaikovsky identified more with Lenski's creative nature. So, why the "weakest link" tag ? This production provided the answer! That's why this minimalist ONEGIN is particularly helpful to first timers to the opera. By combining Acts 2 & 3 and eliminating the long intermission between the Acts & scenes as well as toning down the distracting, unnecessary elements extraneous to the story, this production allows the audience to focus not only on individual performances but the totality of their artistic contributions as well. In full lavish productions, Lenski dies at the end of Act 2. He is given a courtesy solo bow, and his night is done. After a 20-minute intermission or longer, a shot of vodka, champagne or margarita, the audience is ushered back to their seats for the beginning of Act 3.When the curtain opens, the audience is greeted by the majestic polonaise with elegantly dressed and bejewelled ladies of St. Petersburg's upper crust society, dancers and entertainers at Prince Gremin's palatial digs. The audience then gets to hear his beautiful aria and Onegin's two-minute arioso. Another time break for scene change, and then the final scene with Tatiana and Onegin culminating with the histrionics of their dysfunctional love relationship. End of opera - about one and a half hours after Lenski' death. Poor Lenski is a forgotten man by then. But not in this production! Here, after his death, he goes back to his dressing room, have coffee or something stronger (Bjoerling used to do it,why not), and half an hour later, he goes out on stage to receive the audience's feedback with the rest of the cast. That'sthe way it should be, and the composer would have loved it.This DVD may not be surpassed for a long time. The cast is just outstanding, from the three principals who are all at their best, down the line to Lenski's second at the duel scene. Renee Fleming and Dmitri Hvorostovsky will be very hard to top as Tatiana and Onegin because, not only do they possess beautiful voices and fine acting abilities, they also must have spent a lot of time studying and rehearsing together. It shows in their chemistry. Ramon Vargas gave the most vivid portrayal of the poet's persona that I have ever witnessed, and his subtle, well controlled and very effective acting covered a wide gamut of emotions from the lyrical Act 1 through varying degrees of distrust, jealousy and anger, and the heartbreaking resignation in Act 2. He even introduced a little humor in the middle of his ardent declaration of chaste love to the seated Olga by gently pushing the tray of goodies away from her to get her full attention. I missed that one in the theater, and I'm thankful for the DVD. His voice was absolutely gorgeous, and his singing superb throughout. His arioso in Act1 is just as beautiful as Onegin's aria at the end of the act. For some strange reason, Hvorostovsky received only a polite audience response with no bravos. I thought he gave a flawless and terrific rendition of the aria. In Act 2 Scene 1, Vargas dominated the singing in his reprimand of Olga for her flirting with Onegin, his private confrontation with Onegin and the escalation ending in throat grabbing before the guests. He opened the big quintet with chorus with a tender and touching recollection of the happiness he found at the Larin's home as an adolescent and ended the ensemble with a powerful, pained farewell to his beloved Olga. Lenski's aria Act2 Scene2, as sublimely sung by Vargas and lovingly accompanied by the great Met Orchestra under the super conductor of choice, Valery Gergiev, is one for the ages. Vargas just simply dominated all of Act 2. Renee Fleming dominated Act 1 with her wonderful, well nuanced Letter Scene which was warmly received by the audience.So, is the "weakest link" going to steal the show from the Star? After Act3 Scene1, Lenski was still ahead in my tally. DH was in his best voice, and that's a lot. He must deliver the best performance of his life to catch the poet. Fleming could pass him too if he didn't. Fueled by Fleming's incredible acting and singing, which I have never seen from her before, he caught fire in the last six minutes, and the rest is history. He nailed that last note like Rigoletto's anguished maledezione with all the power and pathos he could muster. My verdict: it's a 3-way tie ! When Vargas came out for curtain calls , the audience did not forget the pleasures he had given them and gave him back a tremendous ovation with confetti as they did the other two stars. Aren't we blessed to have three stars of this caliber with an excellent group of supporting singers, the best opera orchestra in the world under the direction of the genius from St. Petersburg? Get this DVD fast, you will not be sorry.

This is a very fine performance and recording of what must be described as rather a minimalist production which, on its own terms, must also be considered a success. To elaborate further therefore ......The cast chosen for this production is unquestioningly top quality throughout and it delivers similar high quality performances in depth. The title role of Onegin perfectly suits the handsome and impressive Dmitri Hvorostovsky whose rich voice and generally restrained bearing underlines Onegin's own perceived role in society. The Russian timbre of his voice also adds considerable veracity to this role. In this respect he is in good company within the cast. Olga, sung by Elena Zaremba, Tatiana's nurse, sung by Larisa Shevchenko, Tatiana's mother sung by Svetlana Volkova and the impressively Russian timbred Serei Aleksashkin as Prince Gremin, all share these tonal advantages. All the above listed singers are clearly equally immersed in their respective roles and the production benefits accordingly.Renée Fleming is a perfect Tatiana and brings the necessary appearance of youth combined with her later social sophistication effortlessly to the role. Her voice is as beautiful as her acting is beyond reproach. The role of Lenski suits the sustained lyrical abilities of Ramón Vargas which culminates in arguably one of his finest moments at the beginning of Act 2 scene 2 in his lengthy aria just prior to the fatal duel. This justifiably earns a considerable ovation from the very appreciative audience.The orchestra play to their normal high standard under the sure direction of Gergiev who clearly knows this score inside out.The production is one of the minimalist variety where the intention appears to be to focus the audience's attention on the personal dramas rather than the settings. To this extent it succeeds very well and suits the intention of the libretto based largely on Pushkin's creation. As Tchaikovsky himself commented in a letter to his future benefactress Nadezhda von Meck on 27 May 1877, `The opera will have no strong dramatic action, but the portrayal of everyday life will be interesting, and how full of poetry it all is.' Nevertheless there will be those who will regret the lack of opulence in the ballroom scenes which can be spectacular in other productions.There are the usual interviews and introductions typical of these Met recordings plus a short film giving an interesting glimpse of rehearsal moments which reinforce expectations rather than casting any new light as regards understanding this opera. The booklet is usefully informative.The imaging is crisp and the camera work is involving. The close-up shots during the ballroom scenes help to suggest a greater scale of event than is actually the case on stage! The sound is presented in excellent DTS 5.1 and stereo.This is a quality production which should give plenty of pleasure and satisfaction to most purchasers. Within the context of the somewhat minimalist chosen production values it seems reasonable to rate this as a convincing disc although there will be many who will regret the lack of scenic scale, most obviously at points such as the ballroom scene where it can easily be argued that too much has to be left to the imagination.

I loved every minute of this opera. I have read Onegin in translation and in Russian - struggling with a dictionary.Nothing was required here but to sit back and soak up the music. I have other works with Gergiev and I have come to rely on his interpretation of his Nations composers. Fleming is sublime - Hvorostovsky plays the arrogant Onegin with aplomb; and Vargas sings a very beautiful "Lensky's Aria"Yes - The staging is a bit challenging - but you are there for the music and story - not to look at fanciful scenery. [If you find this disconcerting; please do not try watching modern presentations of Wagner!! - they are really challenging]Buy it and enjoy listening to these stars at the top of their game.

Ordered this on ratings of other people and was totally not disappointed. The production is wonderful, the singing luscious, I loved it. Someone said they didn't like the fact that the MET stage was so bare - I felt it helped , since the opera relies on individual personality rather than action, it concentrated the thought onto the performers. I'd heartily recommend this version to anyone.

Fabulous production! Stunning singing and acting from Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Renée Fleming. Wonderful all round.

brilliant opera stars