‘magnificently embellish the drama throughout with energy and enthusiasm combined with great choreography’
Deborah Warner’s 2013 production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin returns to The Met for its third revival, this time under the direction of Paula Williams, with the action set in the late 1870s at the time of the opera’s premiere, some fifty years on from the setting of Pushkin’s mock-epic verse novel upon which the opera’s libretto is based.
It is Autumn in the country, and the widowed Madame Larina (Elena Zaremba) has two daughters: the romantic Tatiana (Asmik Grigorian) spends too much time reading novels, whilst the spirited Olga (Maria Barakova) is being courted by their neighbour, the poet Lenski (Stanislas de Barbeyrac). When he visits with his friend, the aristocratic Eugene Onegin (Iurii Samoilov), Tatiana falls in love at first sight and writes him a passionate letter that she asks the family nursemaid Filippyevna (Larissa Diadkova) to deliver. Onegin is less enamoured by the country girl however, offering only a friendship and a warning to control her emotions lest another man take advantage of her innocence.
Some months on, Onegin has accompanied Lenski to Tatiana’s name day celebration, but in boredom begins flirting with Olga. With his jealousy aroused and events spiralling out of control, Lenski challenges Onegin to a duel. With both full of remorse yet neither able to stop the duel, Onegin kills Lenski.
After several years travelling abroad, Onegin returns to St Petersburg where, attending a ball, Prince Gremin (Alexander Tsymbalyuk) introduces his young wife: Tatiana. When Onegin writes to her to express his love and asks her to run away with him, old emotions are stirred in Tatiana, but no longer the naïve country girl, what will the sophisticated socialite choose to do?
The Met staging is as vast as the Russian Steppes that it is intended to resemble and Ian William Galloway and Finn Ross’ video projections of Russian forests, waterways, and wheatfields, used between scenes, certainly help establish location and mood. It is not matched though by Tom Pye’s set design which whilst framing the action, feels somewhat drab, particularly in the opening scene. Although these improve as the opera goes on, it feels more down to the punctuations of colour from Chloe Obolensky’s costumes and Jean Kalman’s impressive lighting design which casts an arc across the whole piece from the golden sunrise in Act I through the atmospheric and snowy duelling ground, to a softer russet red sunset at its close.
Grigorian performs strongly although I found her country girl more dour than fresh-faced innocence, but this was more than made up for as she perfectly captured the haughtiness and poignancy of the self-possessed princess whose emotions are stirred. Displaying vocal flexibility throughout, the dramatic Letter Scene was particularly moving as she expressed the contrasting emotions of love and hate, despair and hope.
Samoilov excelled on his Met debut both vocally and dramatically as he superbly brought to life the idiosyncrasies of a man who is neither villain nor hero, moving effortlessly from cold and calculating through to passion then despair with a strong and vibrant vocal throughout: one to keep an eye out for in the future.
From a somewhat subdued start, de Barbeyrac burst into life in Act II as he effortlessly stepped up with a powerfully emotional rendition of ‘Kuda, Kuda’ capturing Lensky’s inner turmoil as he faces his impending mortality.
Barakova excelled as Olga with a bright performance and impressive vocal that reflected the charm and grace of her character, further imbued with a real sense of playfulness. Another one to keep an eye out for.
Zaremba gave full voice to Madame Larina whilst Diadkova provided much needed depth to the old family nursemaid. Tsymbalyuk’s appearance is brief but his aria in which he describes his happiness is moving and memorable.
A special mention too for Tony Stevenson’s delightful cameo with couplets as Monsieur Triquet, complete with leg brace; Ben Brady’s Captain officiating at the party; and Richard Bernstein’s assertive presence as Zaretsky, Lensky’s second at the fatal duel.
Also on his Met debut – and another clearly with a bright future – was conductor Timur Zangiev who delightfully and confidently led the Met Orchestra through Tchaikovsky’s beautifully simple yet luscious score, with the Met Chorus under the direction of Tilman Michael magnificently embellish the drama throughout with energy and enthusiasm combined with great choreography from Kim Brandstrup.
Review Date: 2nd May 2026
Star Rating: FOUR