Worse, repeated incursions of “cute little kids” into Tatiana’s name day party - to me, a provincial directorial gambit to win audience indulgence that merely stole needed focus from the principal characters’ shifting emotions.Ī topical specter haunted this evening: - the production’s 2013 season-opening premiere, which witnessed demonstrations against its conductor and leading lady, Valery Gergiev and Anna Netrebko, as supporters of Vladimir Putin. Yet Warner seems to be channeling Gosford Park: The gorgeous opening scene, scored for two women onstage and two off, drowns in servants performing tasks. Onegin was initially written for conservatory performance, and though adapted for larger stages - including a notable dance component, here consistently underwhelming in Kim Brandstrup’s rather grudging response to some terrific and highly contrasted music - benefits from a sense of intimacy and focus on the central romantic couples. Ailyn Pérez as Tatiana in the Letter Scene in Tchaikovsky’s ‘Eugene Onegin.’ (Photo by Jonathan Tichler / Met Opera_Ĭertainly the costumes, largely beautiful as they are, evoke the 1890s or 1900s more than Pushkin’s time. But Warner’s view of the piece seems skewed through the lens of the general post-World War II British materialist take on Chekhov and Gorky. There are some splendid character touches, such as Tatiana dropping her book upon Onegin’s entrance, Olga perusing Lenski’s latest love poems during his first aria, and the (unscripted but telling) kisses the leads plant on each other’s lips at key junctures. Warner is a fine director, certainly more insightful than McVicar. No one theater or director ( David McVicar, a dozen and counting!) should so constantly be the source for another major company’s work. Warner’s production comes from the English National Opera, like far too many Met shows. This staging replaced the simple, swift-running Robert Carsen enterprise of 1997, still in welcome use at other companies. The fervent ovation after Tchaikovsky’s brilliantly impassioned final scene, with smooth-voiced Igor Golovatenko’s titular antihero vainly beseeching the talented Ailyn Pérez’s lovely, first-ever Tatiana, was well deserved.īut the production remains ponderous and overstocked with extras long pauses interrupt dramatic flow between scenes. By and large, conductor James Gaffigan and his singers delivered musically quite well in a manner promising that the show will only continue to improve during the run through April 14. NEW YORK - The Metropolitan Opera’s March 25 revival of Deborah Warner’s 2018 Eugene Onegin staging evoked mixed feelings. Igor Golovatenko in the title role and Ailyn Pérez as Tatiana in the Metropolitan Opera production of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Eugene Onegin.’ (Photo by Marty Sohl / Met Opera)
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