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Tchaikovsky, Yevgeny Onegin : Vancouver Opera, soloists, cond. Jonathan Darlington, dir. Pamela Berlin, sets by Neil Patel, lighting designer Rui Rita, chorus dir. Leslie Dala, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, British Columbia, 29.11.2008 (BJ)

Brett Polegato as Onegin

As operas go, Yevgeny Onegin is a somewhat elusive representative of the genre. Tchaikovsky even refrained from calling it an opera, choosing instead to subtitle it “Lyric scenes.” The choice perhaps reflects both the intimacy of the libretto he and his collaborator Shilovsky drew from Pushkin’s famous verse novel, and its somewhat episodic narrative. But in any decent production the piece makes a moving theatrical experience, and Vancouver Opera’s Onegin, of which I attended the last of four performances, was very much more than decent.

Opera in the Pacific Northwest seems to be in excellent shape. Coming on the heels of Seattle Opera’s stunning Elektra and Portland Opera’s splendid Traviata and Fidelio, this production by Pamela Berlin continued a series of presentations not only visually attractive but respectful of the works in hand, and the musical side of the enterprise was carried off with equal skill. Neil Patel’s simple but beautiful sets and Rui Rita’s atmospheric lighting, together with handsome costumes curiously uncredited in the printed program to any designer, conspired to transport us to a very convincing Russian country estate in the 1820s. Stage movement was economical but effective, and there was absolutely nothing pretentious or mannered to distract from the drama.

Rhoslyn Jones as Tatyana

Everyone on stage, moreover, offered unfailingly cogent and, where appropriate, deeply sympathetic portrayals of their respective characters. One interesting fact is that, of the eleven characters, only two–the Lensky of Russian tenor Oleg Balashov and the Gremin of New Yorker Peter Volpe–were cast from outside Canada. Those two were indeed especially impressive in both voice and stage presence, but the Canadians were in no degree outshone, and the Onegin in particular was magnificently sung and acted by Brett Polegato, a baritone of star quality by any international standard.

No less compelling dramatically was Rhoslyn Jones’s Tatyana, poignant in the early scenes, and equally so later on despite the worldly assurance the character had by then grown into. The British Columbia native has a voice of appealing timbre, and it will be a pity if she cannot do something to remedy a method that produces a noticeable wobble at any dynamic level above fairly soft. Her scenes with Allyson McHardy as her sister Olga, with Norine Burgess as their mother Madame Larina, and with Marcia Swanston as her nurse Filipyevna were all played with charm and period sensitivity. Chad Louwerse doubled the roles of Captain Petrovich and Zaretsky effectively, and James McLennan made a suitably foppish figure of the egregious Frenchman Triquet.

Under the baton of the company’s English music director, Jonathan Darlington, the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and Leslie Dala’s well-trained chorus contributed punctual support and some admirably rich tone and texture–the waltz and polonaise were the melodic high points, but the whole score was done with zest and artistry. All in all, Yevgeny Onegin emerged as a music-theater work of a caliber out of all proportion to its modest manner–and as, I think, a stronger one than Tchaikovsky’s better-known Queen of Spades.

Bernard Jacobson     

<sup>Pictures © Tim Matheson

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