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Eugene Onegin (opera)
Encyclopedia
Eugene Onegin, Op. 24, is an opera
("lyrical scenes") in 3 acts (7 scenes), by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
. The libretto was written by Konstantin Shilovsky and the composer and his brother Modest
, and is based on the novel in verse
by Alexander Pushkin.
Eugene Onegin is a well-known example of lyric opera; the libretto very closely follows Pushkin's original, retaining much of his poetry, to which Tchaikovsky adds music of a dramatic nature. The story concerns a selfish hero who lives to regret his blasé rejection of a young woman's love and his careless incitement of a fatal duel with his best friend.
The opera was first performed in Moscow
in 1879. There are several recordings of it, and it is regularly performed. The work's title refers to the protagonist.
In May 1877, the opera singer Yelizaveta Lavrovskaya
spoke to Tchaikovsky about creating an opera based on the plot of Pushkin's verse novel Eugene Onegin. At first this idea seemed wild to the composer, according to his memoirs; however, he was soon growing excited about the suggestion and created the scenarios in one night before starting the composition of the music.
Tchaikovsky used original verses from Pushkin's novel and chose scenes that involved the emotional world and fortunes of his heroes, calling the opera "lyrical scenes." The opera is episodic; there is no continuous story, just selected highlights of Onegin's life. Since the original story was so well known, Tchaikovsky knew his audience could easily fill in any details that he omitted. A similar treatment is found in Puccini
's La bohème
. The composer had finished the opera by January 1878.
. The premiere took place on 29 March (17 March O.S.
) 1879 at the Maly Theatre
, Moscow
, conducted by Nikolai Rubinstein, with set designs by Karl Valts (Waltz).
Two years later the first performance at the Bolshoi Theatre
in Moscow took place on 23 January (11 January O.S.) 1881 with conductor Eduard Nápravník
.
The first performance outside Russia took place on 6 December 1888 in Prague
conducted by Tchaikovsky himself. It was sung in Czech and translated by Marie Červinková-Riegrová.
The first performance in Hamburg
, on 19 January 1892, was conducted by Gustav Mahler
, in the composer's presence. Tchaikovsky was applauded after each scene and received curtain calls at the end. He attributed its success to Mahler, whom he described as "not some average sort, but simply a genius burning with a desire to conduct".
The first performance in England
took place on 17 October 1892 at the Olympic Theatre in London
with Henry J. Wood conducting. This performance was sung in English, to a text translated by H. S. Edwards.
Vienna
first saw Eugene Onegin on 19 November 1897, conducted by Gustav Mahler
.
The U.S. premiere was given on 24 March 1920 at the Metropolitan Opera
in New York
. The opera was sung in Italian.
Time: The 1820s
Place: In the country, and in St. Petersburg
Madame Larina (mezzo-soprano) and the nurse (mezzo-soprano) are sitting outside: her two daughters, Tatyana (soprano) and younger sister Olga (contralto), can be heard from inside the house. A group of peasants sing a comic song about the serenading of a miller's daughter. Tatyana is reading a romantic novel and quite absorbed by it, but her mother tells her that real life is very different from such stories. Visitors arrive: Olga's fiancé Lensky (tenor), a young 18 year-old poet, and his friend Eugene Onegin (baritone), a 23 year-old world-weary St Petersburg 'drawing-room automaton' (Nabokov). Lensky introduces Onegin to the Larin family. Onegin is initially surprised that Lensky has chosen the extrovert Olga rather than her romantic elder sister. Tatyana for her part is immediately and strongly attracted to Onegin.
Scene 2: Tatyana's room
Tatyana confesses to her nurse that she is in love. Left alone she writes a letter to Onegin driven by the realization that she is fatally and irreversibly drawn to him (the celebrated 'Letter Scene'). When the old woman returns Tatyana asks her to arrange for the letter to be sent to Onegin.
Scene 3: Another part of the estate
Onegin arrives to see Tatyana and give her his answer to her letter. He explains, not unkindly, that he is not a man who loves easily and is unsuited to marriage. Tatyana is crushed and unable to reply.
Tatyana's name-day party. Onegin is irritated with the country people who gossip about him and Tatyana, and with Lensky for persuading him to come. He decides to avenge himself by dancing and flirting with Olga. Lensky becomes extremely jealous. Olga is insensitive to her fiancé and apparently attracted to Onegin. There is a diversion, while a French neighbour called Monsieur Triquet (tenor) sings some couplets in honour of Tatyana, after which the quarrel becomes more intense. Lensky renounces his friendship with Onegin in front of all the guests, and challenges Onegin to a duel, which the latter is forced, with many misgivings, to accept.
Scene 2: On the banks of a wooded stream, early morning
Lensky is waiting for Onegin, and sings of his uncertain fate and his love for Olga. Onegin arrives. They are both reluctant to go ahead with the duel but lack the power to stop it. Onegin shoots Lensky dead.
Three years have passed. After traveling extensively all around Europe, Onegin reflects on the emptiness of his life and his remorse over the death of Lensky. Prince Gremin (bass) enters with his wife, Tatyana, now transformed into a grand, aristocratic beauty. Gremin sings of his great happiness with Tatyana, and re-introduces Onegin to her. Onegin is deeply impressed by Tatyana, and is suddenly injected with life and realizing that he is also in love with her.
Scene 2: Reception room in Prince Gremin's house
Tatyana has received a letter from Onegin. Onegin enters and begs for her love and her pity. Tatyana wonders why he is now attracted to her. Is it because of her social position? Onegin is adamant that his passion is real and absolute. Tatyana, moved to tears, reflects how near they once were to happiness but nevertheless asks him to leave. She admits she still loves him, but that their union can never be realized, as she is now married. Despite her unhappiness about her marriage and lack of passion for her husband, she will remain faithful to him. Onegin implores her, but she finally leaves him alone in his despair.
Act 2
Act 3
Act 1
Act 2
Act 3
's play Three Sisters
.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
("lyrical scenes") in 3 acts (7 scenes), by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
. The libretto was written by Konstantin Shilovsky and the composer and his brother Modest
Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian dramatist, opera librettist and translator.-Early life:Modest Ilyich was born in Alapayevsk, the younger brother of the future composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. He graduated from the School of Jurisprudence with a degree in law...
, and is based on the novel in verse
Eugene Onegin
Eugene Onegin is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin.It is a classic of Russian literature, and its eponymous protagonist has served as the model for a number of Russian literary heroes . It was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832...
by Alexander Pushkin.
Eugene Onegin is a well-known example of lyric opera; the libretto very closely follows Pushkin's original, retaining much of his poetry, to which Tchaikovsky adds music of a dramatic nature. The story concerns a selfish hero who lives to regret his blasé rejection of a young woman's love and his careless incitement of a fatal duel with his best friend.
The opera was first performed in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in 1879. There are several recordings of it, and it is regularly performed. The work's title refers to the protagonist.
Composition history
Yelizaveta Lavrovskaya
Yelizaveta Andreyevna Lavrovskaya was a Russian mezzo-soprano praised for her dramatic performances of operatic arias and her sensitive interpretations of lieder. An acquaintance of composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, she suggesed that he compose an opera based on Alexander Pushkin's verse-play...
spoke to Tchaikovsky about creating an opera based on the plot of Pushkin's verse novel Eugene Onegin. At first this idea seemed wild to the composer, according to his memoirs; however, he was soon growing excited about the suggestion and created the scenarios in one night before starting the composition of the music.
Tchaikovsky used original verses from Pushkin's novel and chose scenes that involved the emotional world and fortunes of his heroes, calling the opera "lyrical scenes." The opera is episodic; there is no continuous story, just selected highlights of Onegin's life. Since the original story was so well known, Tchaikovsky knew his audience could easily fill in any details that he omitted. A similar treatment is found in Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
. The composer had finished the opera by January 1878.
Performance history
Tchaikovsky worried whether the public would accept his opera, which lacked traditional scene changes. He believed that its performance required maximum simplicity and sincerity. With this in mind, he entrusted the first production to the students of the Moscow ConservatoryMoscow Conservatory
The Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...
. The premiere took place on 29 March (17 March O.S.
Old Style and New Style dates
Old Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though documents written at the time use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian...
) 1879 at the Maly Theatre
Maly Theatre (Moscow)
Maly Theatre is a drama theater in Moscow, Russia. Established in 1806 and operating on its present site on the Theatre Square since 1824, the theatre traces its history to the Moscow University drama company, established in 1756...
, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, conducted by Nikolai Rubinstein, with set designs by Karl Valts (Waltz).
Two years later the first performance at the Bolshoi Theatre
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
in Moscow took place on 23 January (11 January O.S.) 1881 with conductor Eduard Nápravník
Eduard Nápravník
Eduard Francevič Nápravník was a Czech conductor and composer, who settled in Russia and is best known for his leading role in Russian musical life as the principal conductor of the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg for many decades...
.
The first performance outside Russia took place on 6 December 1888 in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
conducted by Tchaikovsky himself. It was sung in Czech and translated by Marie Červinková-Riegrová.
The first performance in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, on 19 January 1892, was conducted by Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
, in the composer's presence. Tchaikovsky was applauded after each scene and received curtain calls at the end. He attributed its success to Mahler, whom he described as "not some average sort, but simply a genius burning with a desire to conduct".
The first performance in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
took place on 17 October 1892 at the Olympic Theatre in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with Henry J. Wood conducting. This performance was sung in English, to a text translated by H. S. Edwards.
Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
first saw Eugene Onegin on 19 November 1897, conducted by Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
.
The U.S. premiere was given on 24 March 1920 at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The opera was sung in Italian.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Moscow premiere, 29 May 1879 (Conductor: Nikolai Rubinstein) |
Bolshoi Theatre premiere, 23 January 1881 (Conductor: Eduard Nápravník Eduard Nápravník Eduard Francevič Nápravník was a Czech conductor and composer, who settled in Russia and is best known for his leading role in Russian musical life as the principal conductor of the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg for many decades... ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Larina, lady of the manor | mezzo-soprano | ||
| Tatyana, her daughter | soprano | Mariya Klimentova | Yelena Verni |
| Olga, Tatyana's sister | contralto | Aleksandra Levitskaya | Aleksandra Krutikova |
| Filippyevna, a nurse | mezzo-soprano | ||
| Lensky | tenor | Mikhail Medvedyev | Dmitriy Usatov |
| Yevgeny Onyegin | baritone | Sergey Gilyov | Pavel Khokhlov |
| Prince Gremin, | bass | Vasiliy Makhalov | Abram Abramov |
| Company Commander | bass | ||
| Zaretsky | bass | ||
| Triquet, a Frenchman | tenor | ||
| Guillot, Onegin's valet | silent | ||
| Chorus, silent roles: Peasants, peasant women, ballroom guests, landowners and ladies of the manor, officers. | |||
Instrumentation
Source: www.tchaikovsky-research.net- Strings: Violins I, Violins II, Violas, Cellos, Double Basses, Harp
- Woodwinds: Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets (A, B-flat), 2 Bassoons
- Brass: 4 Horns (F), 2 Trumpets (F), 3 Trombones
- Percussion: Timpani
Synopsis
This synopsis by Simon Holledge was first published on Opera japonica.Place: In the country, and in St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
Act 1
Scene 1: The garden of the Larin country estateMadame Larina (mezzo-soprano) and the nurse (mezzo-soprano) are sitting outside: her two daughters, Tatyana (soprano) and younger sister Olga (contralto), can be heard from inside the house. A group of peasants sing a comic song about the serenading of a miller's daughter. Tatyana is reading a romantic novel and quite absorbed by it, but her mother tells her that real life is very different from such stories. Visitors arrive: Olga's fiancé Lensky (tenor), a young 18 year-old poet, and his friend Eugene Onegin (baritone), a 23 year-old world-weary St Petersburg 'drawing-room automaton' (Nabokov). Lensky introduces Onegin to the Larin family. Onegin is initially surprised that Lensky has chosen the extrovert Olga rather than her romantic elder sister. Tatyana for her part is immediately and strongly attracted to Onegin.
Scene 2: Tatyana's room
Tatyana confesses to her nurse that she is in love. Left alone she writes a letter to Onegin driven by the realization that she is fatally and irreversibly drawn to him (the celebrated 'Letter Scene'). When the old woman returns Tatyana asks her to arrange for the letter to be sent to Onegin.
Scene 3: Another part of the estate
Onegin arrives to see Tatyana and give her his answer to her letter. He explains, not unkindly, that he is not a man who loves easily and is unsuited to marriage. Tatyana is crushed and unable to reply.
Act 2
Scene 1: The ballroom of the Larin houseTatyana's name-day party. Onegin is irritated with the country people who gossip about him and Tatyana, and with Lensky for persuading him to come. He decides to avenge himself by dancing and flirting with Olga. Lensky becomes extremely jealous. Olga is insensitive to her fiancé and apparently attracted to Onegin. There is a diversion, while a French neighbour called Monsieur Triquet (tenor) sings some couplets in honour of Tatyana, after which the quarrel becomes more intense. Lensky renounces his friendship with Onegin in front of all the guests, and challenges Onegin to a duel, which the latter is forced, with many misgivings, to accept.
Scene 2: On the banks of a wooded stream, early morning
Lensky is waiting for Onegin, and sings of his uncertain fate and his love for Olga. Onegin arrives. They are both reluctant to go ahead with the duel but lack the power to stop it. Onegin shoots Lensky dead.
Act 3
Scene 1: At a ball in the house of a rich nobleman in St PetersburgThree years have passed. After traveling extensively all around Europe, Onegin reflects on the emptiness of his life and his remorse over the death of Lensky. Prince Gremin (bass) enters with his wife, Tatyana, now transformed into a grand, aristocratic beauty. Gremin sings of his great happiness with Tatyana, and re-introduces Onegin to her. Onegin is deeply impressed by Tatyana, and is suddenly injected with life and realizing that he is also in love with her.
Scene 2: Reception room in Prince Gremin's house
Tatyana has received a letter from Onegin. Onegin enters and begs for her love and her pity. Tatyana wonders why he is now attracted to her. Is it because of her social position? Onegin is adamant that his passion is real and absolute. Tatyana, moved to tears, reflects how near they once were to happiness but nevertheless asks him to leave. She admits she still loves him, but that their union can never be realized, as she is now married. Despite her unhappiness about her marriage and lack of passion for her husband, she will remain faithful to him. Onegin implores her, but she finally leaves him alone in his despair.
Principal arias and numbers
Act 1- Aria: "Ah, Tanya, Tanya" (Olga)
- Aria: "Were I a man whom fate intended" (Onegin)
- Aria: Letter Aria "Let me die, but first..." , Сцена письма: «Пускай погибну я, но прежде…» (Tatyana)
Act 2
- Dance: WaltzWaltzThe waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
- Aria: "Kuda, kuda vï udalilis" «Куда, куда вы удалились, весны моей златые дни» (Lensky)
Act 3
- Dance: PolonaisePolonaiseThe polonaise is a slow dance of Polish origin, in 3/4 time. Its name is French for "Polish."The polonaise had a rhythm quite close to that of the Swedish semiquaver or sixteenth-note polska, and the two dances have a common origin....
- Aria: "All men surrender to Love's power" «Любви все возрасты покорны» (Gremin)
- Scene: Finale (Onegin, Tatyana)
Structure
Source: www.tchaikovsky-research.net- Introduction
Act 1
- No.1 — Duet & Quartet
- No.2 — Chorus & Peasants' Dance
- No.3 — Scena & Olga's Arioso
- No.4 — Scena
- No.5 — Scena & Quartet
- No.6 — Scena
- No.6a – Lensky's Arioso
- No.7 — Closing Scena
- No.8 — Introduction & Scena with the Nurse
- No.9 — Letter Scena
- No.10 – Scena & Duet
- No.11 – Chorus of Maidens
- No.12 – Scena
- No.12a – Onegin's Aria
Act 2
- No.13 – Entr'acte & Waltz
- No.14 – Scena & Triquet's Couplets
- No.15 – Mazurka & Scena
- No.16 – Finale
- No.17 – Scena
- No.17a – Lensky's Aria
- No.18 – Duel Scena
Act 3
- No.19 – Polonaise
- No.20 – Scena & Ecossaise
- No.20a – Prince Gremin's Aria
- No.21 – Scena
- No.21a – Onegin's Arioso
- No.22 – Closing Scena
Recordings
Source: http://www.operadis-opera-discography.org.uk/- 1936, Vasiliy Nebolsin (conductor), Bolshoy Theatre Orchestra and Chorus, Panteleimon Nortsov (Onegin), Sergey Lemeshev (Lensky), Lavira Zhukovskaya (Tatyana), Bronislava Zlatogorova (Olga), Maria Botienina (Larina), Konkordiya Antarova (Filippyevna), Aleksandr Pirogov (Gremin), I. Kovalenko (Triquet)
- 1948, Aleksandr Orlov (conductor), Bolshoy Theatre Orchestra and Chorus, Andrey Ivanov (Onegin), Ivan Kozlovsky (Lensky), Yelena Kruglikova (Tatyana), Maria Maksakova (Olga), B. Amborskaya (Larina), Fayina Petrova (Filippyevna), Mark Reyzen (Gremin), I. Kovalenko (Triquet)
- 1956, Boris Khaikin (conductor), Bolshoy Theatre Orchestra and Chorus, Yevgeniy Belov (Onegin), Sergey Lemeshev (Lensky), Galina Vishnevskaya (Tatyana), Larissa Avdeyeva (Olga), Valentina Petrova (Larina), Yevgeniya Verbitskaya (Filippyevna), Ivan Petrov (Gremin), Andrey Sokolov (Triquet), Igor Mikhaylov (Zaretsky)
- 2007 Valery Gergiev (conductor), The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Onegin), Ramon Vargas (Lenski), Renee Fleming (Tatiana), Elena Zaremba (Olga), Svetlana Volkova (Larina), Larisa Shevchenko (Filippyevna), Sergei Aleksashkin (Gremin), Jean-Paul Fouchecourt (Triquet), Richard Bernstein (Zaretski), Keith Miller (A captain) (DVD recording)
Allusions
Prince Gremin's aria «Любви все возрасты покорны» -- "To love both young and old surrender" (Act III, Scene I) is partially hummed by the characters of Vershinin and Masha in Anton ChekhovAnton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
's play Three Sisters
Three Sisters (play)
Three Sisters is a play by Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov, perhaps partially inspired by the situation of the three Brontë sisters, but most probably by the three Zimmermann sisters in Perm...
.
Screen versions
- In 1958 LenfilmLenfilmKinostudiya "Lenfilm" is a production unit of the Russian film industry, with its own film studio, located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, formerly Leningrad, R.S.F.S.R. Today OAO "Kinostudiya Lenfilm" is a corporation with its stakes shared between private owners, and several private film studios,...
(USSR) produced a famous film "Eugene OneginEugene Onegin (film)Eugene Onegin is 1958 Soviet opera film, produced by Lenfilm Studio, directed by Roman Tikhomirov, starring Vadim Medvedev, Igor Ozerov and Ariadna Shengelaya....
". Film was directed by Roman Tikhomirov and starring Vadim Medvedev as Onegin, Ariadna ShengelayaAriadna ShengelayaAriadna Shengelaya is a Soviet actress. She appeared in 33 films between 1957 and 1997. She was married to the Georgian film director Eldar Shengelaya from 1957 to 1980....
as Tatyana and Igor Ozerov as Lensky. The principal solo parts were performed by notable opera singers of the Bolshoi TheatreBolshoi TheatreThe Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
.The film was well received by critics and viewers.
- In 1988 DeccaDecca RecordsDecca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
/Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
(Great BritainGreat BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
) produced a film adaptation of the opera, directed by Petr Weigl. Sir Georg SoltiGeorg SoltiSir Georg Solti, KBE, was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor. He was a major classical recording artist, holding the record for having received the most Grammy Awards, having personally won 31 as a conductor, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to his...
acted as the conductor, while the cast featured Michal Docolomanský as Onegin and Magdaléna VášáryováMagdaléna VášáryováMagdaléna Vášáryová , is a Slovak actress and diplomat, prominent for her liberal anti-nationalist stances. In 1971 she completed her studies at Comenius University in Bratislava. Until 1989 she acted in several Slovak theatres, including Slovak National Theatre and in numerous movies...
as Tatyana.