Libretto
Konstantin
Shilovsky and
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
English version by
David Lloyd-Jones
Director
Julia Hollander
Conductor
Jonathan Darlington
Set Designer
Fotini Dimou
Cast:
Tatyana
Catrin Wyn-Davies
Olga
Louise Poole
Madame Larina
Yvonne Howard
Filippyevna
Susan Gorton
Vladimir Lensky
Gwyn Hughes Jones
Eugene Onegin
Gerald Finley
Prince Gremin
Peter Rose
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Eugene Onegin
by Pyotr Tchaikovsky
English National Opera
London Coliseum
10 - 25 June 2005
Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, based on Pushkin's poem, is a simple story about Madame Larina's two children, Tatyana and Olga. Lensky (who is courting Olga), brings a visitor to the Larina house, Eugene Onegin. Tatyana (usually buried in romantic novels) falls immediately and desperately in love with Onegin, and stays up all night writing him a love letter, which he receives the next day and rejects her out of hand. Years later (after killing Lensky in a duel) Onegin meets Olga again, this time falls desperately in love with her, but she is now married to Prince Gremin and it is her turn to reject him. In 1877 Tchaikovsky wrote to his brother from that it was the humanity and simplicity of the story that he liked, which made up for what he called its lack of theatricality and movement.
In my view there are three problems with Julia Hollander's production (now revived by the ENO for the third time), and one major draw which makes up for them. First, she tries to make up for the lack of theatricality and movement in the story with acting that is so over the top that I can only describe it as hammy. In another letter Tchaikovsky said that he wrote the opera sincerely, to express a human feeling (himself in total despair at a loveless marriage). But rather than conveying an intensely moving tale of sincere love and rejection, this feels like a series of teenage crushes, like one of Tatyana's slushy novels, with which the sincerity of the real thing should be juxtaposed and not likened. The second problem is the conventional staging, which although attractive, does nothing to add depth. The third is the clanging rhymes of David Lloyd Jones's translation. It is ironic that at the time of the ENO's decision to introduce sur-titles they should stage a production whose words are entirely lucid, but left me wishing it had been in Russian.
However, the huge success is the superb singing and conducting. Gerard Finley in particular is sublime, but there is not a weak link among the cast. This is a hugely pleasurable concert, but not an intense emotional experience.
Maya Lester
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