Act I - 80 minutes
Intermission - 25 minutes
Act II - 50 minutes
Unforgettable melodies and heart-rending drama combine to open a window on the Russian soul in Tchaikovsky’s famous opera, Eugene Onegin (1879). One of the most representative operas of the Romantic repertoire, this fascinating and magnificent work is also emblematic of the Russian national music tradition.
Onegin is a man who struggles with the dreadful torment of having in his youth arrogantly rejected the love of an admirable young woman whom he can never forget. He also lives with the painfully haunting memory of killing his best friend in a duel. The story speaks not only love and treason, uncontrolled passion and the purity of the soul, but also of Russian social and intellectual life in the 1820’s.
