British Youth Opera: Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin. Soloists / South Bank Sinfonia / Peter Robinson (conductor). Peacock Theatre, London. 13.09.06 (ED)

 

 

Tatyana	Katrina Broderick
Olga	Clara Mouriz
Madame Larina	Catherine Hopper
Filipyevna	Sigrídur Ósk Kristjánsdóttir
A Singing Worker	Gareth John
Vladimir Lensky	Shaun Dixon
Eugene Onegin	George von Bergen
Captain Petrovitch	Damian Carter
Monsieur Triquet	Eliot Alderman
Zaretsky	Jonathan Sells
Guillot	Philip Spendley
Prince Gremin	Vuyani Mlinde

 

Conductor:	Peter Robinson
Director:	William Kerley
Set Designer:	Tom Rogers

 

In marked contrast to the BYO’s production of Don Giovanni, their Eugene Onegin set the scene in very realistic locations. Making use of wooden scenery to bring a countryside feel to Act I with wide outdoor spaces, and the provincial interior for Act II’s ball that contrasted with the grandeur of the St Petersburg ball in Act III, a sense of progress was instilled in the drama. In many respects the opera is a chronicle of the lives and loves of its main protagonists, Onegin and Tatiana, but it is also no less so a window into the very different hearts of Olga, Lensky and Prince Gremin.

The first refrain – a phrase that should seemingly have no beginning and no end – sets out the repeating cycle of the action. As Madame Larina’s marriage turned from love to habit, so her daughter Tatyana moves from impetuous love for Onegin to acceptance of a lesser feeling for Gremin. In sticking fast to that feeling she ultimately shapes her fate along with that of Onegin. The seeds of the doom in Tchaikovsky’s lyrical scenes must be present from the start, with characters fully formed.

Catherine Hopper’s Madame Larina and Sigrídur Ósk Kristjánsdóttir’s nurse Filippyevna tried bravely to be women of a certain age. Despite their country roots their characters have experienced the world; albeit a small part of it, which came through with the air of knowledge gained at the price of happiness – that same air with which Tatyana sings at the work’s close.

Lensky articulates the key difference between Onegin and himself – “like prose and poetry”. It is such difference in character that it ultimately leads to Lensky’s fate. His music is at first of rural type, showing the charming though not uneducated aspect to his character. However, depth of feeling enters with his despair at Onegin’s actions during the Larin’s ball and – most tellingly – in his reflections on love and death just prior to the fateful duel. Shaun Dixon articulated the role with commanding if nasal voice and realised with subtlety the sadness of Lensky’s situation. George von Bergen as Onegin presented a suave, haughty appearance. Even on our first encounter with him there was the air of superiority that comes to cloud his judgement with Tatyana, Olga and Lensky at various points in the action; together, the eventual cause of his fate. Such tone carried through in some small way to his singing, making for convincing characterisation. It served to accentuate Onegin’s despair in the closing scene when all reserve is thrown aside as he finally gave in to the feelings of his heart.

The creation of Tatyana is the single greatest achievement in all of Tchaikovsky’s operas. The role requires a singing actress who can move with ease from the naivety of a girl to the maturity of a woman bearing the emotional scars of her feelings and of her encounters with Onegin. Katrina Broderick is to be praised for her assumption. With impetuous feeling fuelled by reading, she gave her heart willingly, only to have the gift rebuked with a sermon at the first opportunity. The great ‘letter scene’ (Act I, scene ii) was confidently delivered, to capture the forceful emotions that must out in her missive to Onegin. Yet his rebuke should be but a counter-balance: the highs and lows of human emotion. It is in their scenes together that the real heart of the work lies, and largely the production did not disappoint.

Such is the strength of characterisation achievable amongst lesser roles that Tchaikovsky clearly was at pains to make sure they were not overlooked in production. If he thought Olga ‘very insipid’, we see this view taken up by Onegin in thinking her ‘blank-faced’. True, the part may not have a downfall comparable to Tatyana’s but Olga too is left to unhappiness. Clara Mouriz believably charted the course from frivolity to sorrow, though she never made Olga seem insipid. Eliot Alderman’s Monsieur Triquet gave a deftness of touch to the stereotypical French fop. Of greater gravitas is Prince Gremin. This is a man who we should believe has seen battle, yet in the autumn of his years is genuinely moved by the love he finds for Tatyana. The portrayal delivered by Vuyani Mlinde with sureness of vocal tone made Tatyana’s decision to remain faithful to him just about believable.

In terms of dramatic pacing Eugene Onegin can be a difficult work to judge – it has simultaneously to maintain stillness in the inevitability of its course, yet there are key moments when the action must be propelled forward. Peter Robinson seemed unsure of achieving this mix at times. As a result the South Bank Sinfonia sometimes sounded stretched in their abilities, but the colouring of orchestral lines improved as the evening progressed.

Evan Dickerson