I was unable to get to the theater today to catch the live in HD transmission of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. I’ll go to the encore presentation next week and post a full review then. I was able to listen to the audio broadcast of the opera. Here are a few thoughts based on an audio only experience.
The main reason for the reappearance of this production is soprano Asmik Grigorian. The Lithuanian singer is an artist whose stage presence matches her vocal artistry. Thus, it’s impossible to adequately review her performance from just listening to it. She needs to be seen as well as heard. Nevertheless, her performance was the highlight of the afternoon. Her voice is a lirico-spinto. It’s perfect for Tatiana. She produced the youthful ardor of the first two acts and the mature emotional control required in the final act. She has Salome and Turandot in her repertoire. It’s hard for me to imagine that she has the vocal heft required for those killer roles, but perhaps she does.
The title role was sung by the Ukrainian baritone Iurii Samoilov. He did a credible job, but could have benefited from a bit more forward thrust. The same could be said of French tenor Stanslas de Barbeyrac. He has a lyric tenor that is well produced and that he can modulate with ease. His reading of Kuda, Kuda (Lensky’s Aria) showed his voice at its best.
Prince Gremin is in the opera solely to sing the fine bass aria given to him in the first scene of Act 3. Alexander Tsymbalyuk delivered a competent, if somewhat woolly, rendition of the famous piece.
Conductor Timur Zangiev has received some bad notices for his leading of Onegin. This run was his Met debut. I thought he did a fine job delivering both Tchaikovsky’s beautiful melodies as well as realizing the moments of great dramatic intensity, especially in the last scene.
The rest of the cast was up to the Met’s standard. I’ll comment more about this performance after I’ve seen it next week.
Eugene Onegin…………Iurii Samoilov
Tatiana………..Asmik Grigorian
Lensky………..Stanslas de Barbeyrac
Olga………..Maria Barakova
Prince Gremin………..Alexander Tsymbalyuk
Larina………..Elena Zaremba
Filippyevna……….Larissa Diadkova
Triquet………..Tony Stevenson
Captain…………Ben Brady
Zaretsky…………Richard Bernstein
Offstage voice………..Remy Martin
Conductor……….Timur Zangiev
I look forward to reading your review of the telecast when it comes. For my part, I had a simply wonderful afternoon–yes, Asmik Grigorian was incredibly, amazingly good; as with her Butterfly, I forget that she’s a performer, not the actual character. So many (believable) changes, vocally and dramatically, as the young Tatiana; such poise and restrained passion in her 3rd act. But I thought the rest of the cast was pretty much ideal: an Onegin who looks believably young and attractive; an endearing Lensky; an Olga in beautiful voice as well as appearance; the two older women in the household (the mother and the nanny) ideal in manner and voice; yes, Prince Gremin did his aria beautifully (I hate when the singer has to growl his way through it), with resonant low notes. I also liked the production, which brought the Larin household to life, especially in Act I (so many non-singing details from serf characters, including children, providing a believable background). By contrast, the spare outdoor scene of the duel in Act 2, and the pillars through which we glimpse the drama in Act 3. I encourage everyone to go see it; this cast (conductor surely included) make the case for this to be one of the best operas. It’s certainly one of the best achievements of the wonderful HD series, so far.