Review: WNO: Eugene Onegin, Hippodrome

Welsh National Opera’s autumn season in Bristol began with Tchaikovsky’s best-loved opera, Eugene Onegin. It is widely considered among his true masterpieces, and one of Russia’s greatest operas. It also had a profound affect on the man himself – but you should never go to see it for the story alone.

As someone who is happy to admit to being only one notch above total philistine – and some would dispute that – I firmly believe no one should be scared of opera.

Take the storyline of Eugene Onegin. It has a plot that would sit comfortably in Emmerdale. Simple country girl Tatyana falls for the dashing city boy Onegin – something of a Mr Darcy type here – and pours out her heart in a passionate love letter, only for him to reject and humiliate her. Worse still, he flirts with her sister.

All pics: Betina Skovbro

This sets into motion a tragic sequence of events that leads to a duel (okay, there aren’t many duels in Emmerdale) in which Onegin kills his best friend Lensky. Then, years later, he meets Tatyana again, now married to an older man. Onegin realises what he`s been missing, declares his love for her but this time – after a major struggle where she realises she’s still in love with him – Tatyana finally rejects Onegin, leaving him in abject misery. How very satisfying.

You could write that story on the back of a fag packet. Tchaikovsky takes three and a half hours to tell it, with two intervals. Emmerdale would probably make it last a season. But you see what I mean: not complicated, nothing to be scared of.

However, and of course, no one goes to a Tchaikovsky opera for the stories. They go for wonderful music, luscious waltzes, romantic choruses and evocative arias. WNO deliver all this and more. Tchaikovsky`s music has never soared so grandly. The orchestra and the music are simply sublime, transcendent, gorgeous.

A revival of James Macdonald’s original production, this one is directed by Caroline Chaney and conducted by Ainārs Rubikis (fabulous). Rising star Natalya Romaniw (Welsh, with a Ukrainian grandfather!) takes the role of Tatyana and Nicholas Lester is Onegin. Both are outstanding.

Also in the cast are Jason Bridges as Lensky; Claudia Huckle as Tayana’s sister Olga; Miklós Sebastyén as Prince Gremin, Tatyana’s husband; and Sarah Fulgoni as Filipyevna, Tatyana`s maid and nanny.

They are all wonderful, but one tiny niggle. The narrative flow of this production is constantly interrupted by very long scene changes that inhibit full engagement.

But before we leave the story entirely behind, perhaps there is something scary about it. Tchaikovsky had already begun work on Tatyana’s “letter scene” in May 1877 when he received a passionate love letter himself from one of his former students. Shaken by the coincidence, and despite being homosexual, he accepted the woman’s marriage proposal, saying he would not play Onegin to her Tatyana.

Not surprisingly the marriage only lasted three months, but perhaps Tchaikovsky had become a little scared of the story behind his opera. Perhaps he was scared that he too would be left lonely and miserable like his doomed anti-hero. Perhaps we should all be scared of that after all.

Welsh National Opera continue at the Hippodrome with Janáček’s From The House of The Dead (Thur Nov 16) and  Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus on Fri, Nov 17 and Sat, Nov 18. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.atgtickets.com/venues/bristol-hippodrome

Read more: Theatre and Comedy picks, Nov 13-19 2017