DVD : Eugene Onegin

Rating: - Near perfect but...
Consider what this opera means to the Russians...a famous Russian novel set by the most famous and popular Russian composer. The conductor conducts the performance from memory with his eyes closed much of the time as if he were in a trance. The sets are traditional and give an authentic feel for the time and place of the story unlike the almost embarassing minimalism of the new Met production. The singing is uniformly good although no singer seems truly world class save the Onegin himself. What is bothersome about the performance is that, while it is advertised as "live" I suspect that a camera was focused on the whole performance from a distance. Closeup shots were later filmed with the complete soundtrack and the singers lip synching to the original. The problem is that, unlike the full stage shots where everything seems to be cooordinated, the singers are often ill at ease trying to keep in synch when, since it is a close up, they should be most secure. I am not a fan of opera "films" since I know the physical demands of singing and relish the "body language" that goes into a fine performance dramatically and vocally. I also dislike updating of any sort since there is so much in the psychology of the characters that is tied to their time and place. For this reason I prefer "traditional" settings and live videos of opera performances. And for this reason this performance is slightly less satsifying than it could have been because of the caveats noted above. Still, one can't go wrong with it.

---

Rating: - A moviing performance
Living in Australia, I have not had the pleasure of attending a live performance of this wonderful opera. I was "blown away" by this performance on DVD. The combination of a story by the incomparable Pushkin, Tschaikovsky's sensitive, lyrical musical score, excellent singing (the excessive vibrato which plagues many Russian singers was mercifully absent), believable casting, a great orchestra and excellent sets all contribute to a moving performance. Tatiana Novikova lives rather than acts Tatiana. Her performance of the crucial letter scene is sensitive, poignant and very moving. Onegin and Lenski are magnificent too, as are the minor roles, not forgetting the unnamed tenor who plays Monsier Triquet. His gracious tribute to Tatiana is running through my head as I write this.

But unfortunately there is a downside to this disc. Audience noises during quiet passages are offensive, the English subtitles are too obtrusive, the sound and video qualities are not up to modern standards and there are several minor glitches in my copy. Hence, four stars.

---

Rating: - entrancing!
I can say that I delight in operatic sublety from Tchaikovsky
compared to say Wagner's adorable bombast. "Onegin" is an example of
what I call great music drama: good story plus superb music. After all,
beauty, fortunately, is subjective (pardon the cliche)--this cd is
for all opera lovers...

---

Rating: - Musical gem of a performace
This perfomance of Onegin is one of the most musical I have seen over the past 30 years. I do remember great performances at the Metropolitan opera with Zylis-Gara and Gedda and a great performance by the Bolshoi when they first came to the Met about 30 years ago. The beauty of this performance however is the total perfection of ensemble staging, singing, acting and conducting all within beautiful sets. The individual singers have excellent techniques, unforced beautiful voices and a true feeling for the nuances of the opera which is conducted to perfection by an unlisted conductor who projects his great love and appreciation of the score. The performers are ideally cast and are embodiments of their roles. However, it is the high quality of the singing and interpretations of every singer that make this such a satisfactory performance. Of course honors go to the beautiful Tatanya whose transformation from the innocent young girl of the letter scene to the mature torn woman of the final scene is reflected in her voice and acting. The same can be said for the Onegin whose arrogance at the beginning to the defeated and tragic figure of the final scene moves the opera to its inevitable conclusion. The Lensky sings and acts the role of the young poet with an inner passion that illuminates the unfolding tragedy;the famous aria is movingly delivered. One is struck by the high quality of artistry of the other members of cast--There is not a wobbly or strained voice. The sets are traditional and beautiful reflecting the lyricism of the text and opera. Unfortunately the modern settings and stagings of Onegin at the Metropolitan and Kirov are not of the same caliber as this performance--in fact they are to be avoided. The only complaint that I have is that this is a 1984 taped live performance, and the technology is not up to 2006 standards--However, the innate beauty of every aspect of this production overides any technical limitations. Onegin is captured as the composer may have envisioned it in his mind as he wrote this glorious music. A gold standard has been set by this performance.

---

Rating: - Wonderful performance
This DVD is the best "Onegin" performance which I saw. Voices, costumes and style are really very very good. I just sang Tatiana last month and this DVD helped me in preparation a lot. All me american partners really like it. I hope you will enjoy it too.