Think about Don Juan, just for a minute.
The rich, self-centered, bad boy-man has roamed through centuries of Western literature, opera and politics. Ubiquitous in our celebrity culture, he also tweets through clouds of graying narcissism in Washington, D.C.
So, consider, just for a minute, seeing Saturday’s performance of the Russian classic, “Eugene Onegin,” (pronounced Own-YEA-ghin). The MET Live in HD will live-stream Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece at 11 a.m. at Fort Lewis College. Sung in Russian with English subtitles, “Onegin” promises to deliver the Russian Don Juan as the anti-hero he is.
Based on Alexander Pushkin’s mock-epic verse novel of the same title, the opera is a masterwork of concision. It took Pushkin, the Russian Shakespeare, eight years and eight “books” to complete the story of an entitled, superfluous man of the 1820s. Tchaikovsky and his librettist narrowed the tale to three acts, beginning at a country estate and ending in St. Petersburg. The rural-urban settings deliberately contrast the innocence of one against the cynical sophistication of the other. The Moscow premiere took place in 1879, almost 100 years after Mozart’s interpretation of the legendary Don Juan, “Don Giovanni.”
Cynical, detached and subject to Byronic moodiness, Onegin in Push kin’s and Tchaikovsky’s versions is a bored aristocrat. Caught between convention and entitlement, Onegin drifts about, seducing women, feeling important and disappointing friends. One happens to be the young, idealistic poet Lenski, whom Onegin kills in a stupid, pride-driven duel.
In the mid-1870s, Tchaikovsky was looking for a subject. Pushkin’s writings had been the source of other operas such as Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” and Tchaikovsky’s own “Queen of Spades.” The idea for “Onegin” as opera came about after a dinner with friends. Tchaikovsky and librettist Konstantin Shilovsky set about a radical reduction of the story. They truncated Pushkin’s extended anti-hero portrait, made Onegin’s falling out with Lenski pivotal, and enhanced the role of Tatiana, the young, innocent country girl who falls obsessively in love with the worldly cad. Here’s a synopsis:
Act I: Autumn. Onegin (baritone Peter Mattei) and Lenski (Russian tenor Alexey Dolgov) arrive at the Larin country estate to meet Lenski’s fiancé. Olga (Russian mezzo Elena Maximova) is the flirtatious older sister of Tatiana, a bookish adolescent (Russian soprano Anna Netrebko), who immediately falls for the Onegin, a girlish crush with consequences.
In the famous 12-minute letter aria, Tatiana pours out her passion and begs for Onegin’s attention. In Pushkin’s original, it’s long, teenage cri de coeur; in the opera, it’s every soprano’s dream. The letter is delivered, and before Act I concludes, Onegin coolly disabuses the silly girl of her fantasy – a rejection that has echoes later.
Act II: Winter. Onegin reluctantly returns to the country with Lenski. Thinking he’ll endure a small house party, Onegin learns he’s been roped into a grand name-day ball for Tatiana. In a churlish pout, Onegin repays his friend by provocatively flirting with Lenski’s fiancé. Angry and hurt, Lenski challenges Onegin to a duel. Onegin accepts and sleeps soundly. Lenski doesn’t and sings one of the most stirring songs-of-sorrow in all of opera. The duel has a disastrous ending.
Act III: Years later. Onegin unexpectedly encounters a changed Tatiana at a glittering aristocratic party in St. Petersburg. Tatiana, now mature, beautiful, sophisticated and well-married, moves in high society, and Onegin cannot believe his eyes.
If you don’t know the ending, it won’t be given away here. Russia’s Don Juan is memorable, and so is snowfall in St. Petersburg.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theater Critics Association.
If you go
What: The MET: Live in HD will present Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin.”
When: 10:55 a.m. Saturday.
Where: Vallecito Room, Fort Lewis College Student Union.
Tickets: $23 general admission, $21 for seniors, students and MET members. Available online at www.durangoconcerts.com, by phone at 247-7657 or at the Welcome Center at Eighth Street and Main Avenue, and at the door. Note: Surcharges may apply.
More information: Sung in Russian with English subtitles. Running time: three hours, 45 minutes.
