Eugene Onegin, Royal Opera House, London

pushkin_small.jpgBy Andrew Clark [Financial Times, 19 March 2006]
Thought, dream, reality: where does one end and the other begin? Itís a question the Royal Operaís new production of Eugene Onegin constantly poses as it follows Tatyana from the naÔve open steppes of the Larina estate to the fur- coated sophistication of St Petersburg. Past, present and future are strung together on the thread of the wish running through them ñ the wish of romantic fulfilment. Reminiscence and anticipation haunt Pushkinís tale as they do Tchaikovskyís music, both poised between a past they recapitulate and a future they foretell.