Eugene Onegin Synopsis
The home of Madame Larina, 19th Century Russia.
Madame Larina lives in the country with her two daughters Tatyana and Olga and their nurse. One morning, while Tatyana and Olga sing of loves to come, Madame Larina and their nurse, Filipyevna, talk about old times and the loves they have lost. Peasants return wearily from their work and give thanks for the end of harvest to their Ladyship, Madame Larina. Refreshed, they dance and sing folk songs.
Olga, a flighty girl, is engaged to the romantic Lensky and cordially welcomes Lensky’s new friend and neighbour, Eugene Onegin, to the family home. Onegin is bored in the country but as he and Tatyana talk together the innocent Tatyana falls in love with him, believing him to be the man of whom she has always dreamed .
Tatyana retires to her room, where Filipyevna entertains her with tales of her early life. Unable to concentrate on anything but Onegin, she dismisses Filipyenva and begins to pen a letter to Onegin. With longing, yet with fear she expresses her deepest feelings on the paper. In the end, she seals the life-changing letter and in the morning she persuades a worried Filipyevna to ask her grandson to deliver it to Onegin
In the orchard, later that morning
During a gathering of dancing peasant girls, Onegin visits Madame Larina’s home again, and this time cruelly rejects Tatyana, believing her to be below his station, and knowing he could never be true to her. Tatyana is broken hearted.
20 minute INTERVAL
At a party held in honour of Tatyana
The widow, Larina, gives a party for her daughter, to which all the local gentry are invited, including Onegin. Bored again, he toys with Olga for company, who is flattered and enjoys the attention. She ignores Lensky’s pleas to stop. The guests are delighted as Triquet, a French gentleman, consents to sing a song which he dedicates
to Tatyana. During the dancing, Lensky’s jealousy destroys the convivial atmosphere, and to the horror of Madame Larina and the gathered guests, he finally challenges Onegin to a duel.
In a field, early next morning.
Lensky and his second, Zaretsky, prepare for the duel. Lensky sings a melancholic aria by way of a farewell to a once happy life, his one regret being the loss of Olga. Onegin arrives late, hurriedly offering his servant, Guillot, as his second and, as they steel themselves for the duel, they sing of their sadness at the hopelessness of the situation. Distraught, Onegin kills his dear friend, as his honour and duty dictate.
5 minute Pause
A palace in St Petersburg - two years later
At a ball in the palace of Prince Gremin, Onegin sees Tatyana again. Against a backdrop of high society dance he cannot believe the transformation in her. She is now married to the Prince, and his feelings toward her are stirred into life. He regrets having passed her by so cruelly, and longs for a reconcilliation. Prince Gremin sings to
his guests of his love for dear Tatyana, but this does not dampen Onegin’s selfish thoughts. He asks her to meet him later.
When they are finally alone, it is Onegin who is struck down with desire, and Tatyana who tries to keep her distance. Despite stirrings of feeling for him, she reminds him of how deeply she has been hurt. Undeterred, he pleads with her, and momentarily they sing of what could have been. Tatyana knows that it could never be what she had hoped for, and how much she loves her husband the Prince. She asks Onegin to remember his path of honour and relinquish his feelings for her. She then finds her strength and leaves Onegin devastated and hopeless.
CURTAIN
Based on Pushkin’s story, ‘Eugene Onegin’ is an interesting comment upon status, love, and honour. Tchaikovsky’s music, with echoes of so many of his major works, beautifully expresses the dark and the light of this dramatic piece.