Eugène Onéguine at the Opéra Garnier was an intimate exploration of the first opera in the Tchaikovsky operatic canon, directed by British actor Ralph Fiennes, an Onegin himself in the excellent 1999 film directed by his sister Martha, with music by his brother Magnus.
This Paris Onegin was obviously a highly curated event, perhaps motivated by St. Petersburg born, European based, incoming music director of L’Opéra National de Paris (2028) Semyon Bychkov. No curator (or operatic equivalent) for the production is credited in the program.
Besides actor Ralph Fiennes as director the production boasts famed Canadian born, London formed designer Michael Levine as creator of the subtly beautiful, slickly theatrical settings. This designer’s usual restrained opulence of color and material complemented, not competing with the over-the-top opulence of the Palais Garnier, as did the costumes created by Annemarie Woods.
The actors were carefully chosen as well, to ensure an in-depth exploration of the Pushkin / Tchaikovsky libretto. Though this Onegin, as any production, hardly may be considered definitive it was nonetheless a much closer examination of the score and book than the usual production in the world’s grand opera houses.
The production was placed in the historic Paris Opéra, a far more intimate opera house than the Opéra Bastille. In recent years the Opéra, dubbed the Garnier (the name of its architect), usually hosts the Classical and Baroque opera productions of the Opéra National de Paris. Note that the opera Eugene Onegin premiered in Moscow only four years after the Palais Garnier opened (1875). Eugène Onéguine was first performed at the Opéra Garnier in 1955, in French, awaiting performances in Russian that occurred finally in 1982.
Maestro Semyon Bychkov elicited a very transparent reading of the score by the superb Opéra National de Paris orchestra, the double winds and brass voices (four horns) emerging with pristine clarity, the strings (12/10/8/5/3) with exceptional warmth. The contribution to this extraordinary production by the orchestra was recognized with an on stage bow! The sixty choristers created the lusty, celebratory party scenes, each one seemingly created his or her own individual character. Twelve dancers managed the third act polonaise as a charming, animalistic ballet, the choreography created by Sophie Laplane.
Onegin was sung by Austria based, Russian baritone Boris Pinkhasovich, thus assuring an incisive delivery of the Russian language. Mr. Pinkhasovich sings the well known baritone roles on the world’s major stages, thus his Onegin was full scale vocally, though he read as well beyond the 26 year old, “superfluous male” of the final act. In the fiery last scene, explicitly rejected by Tatiana, he fell to the floor into the fetal position as the opera’s final image — a theatrical flourish that did not complement the dramaturgical purity of the production.
Director Fiennes offered many coups de théâtre in the course of the opera, the first scene opening with Tatiana captured in a column of light. This image was a portent of the many moments the characters were presented in a personal, silent cameo, either on stage — Onegin after the duel, Lenski dead on the floor of the third act Polonaise, or alone on the stage in front of the gold scene/act curtain that traversed the stage from time to time, like Tatiana before her letter scene and Lenski before his aria. This punctuation, discretely used, placed great emphasis on the plights suffered by the opera’s primary characters.
Larger effects were used as well. Tatiana’s birthday party suddenly moved outside the country house ballroom into the cold, snowy night for the Lenski Onegin confrontation. The duel itself was on a bare stage, a few winter trees in silhouette. The lighting, effected by Italian designer Alessandro Carletti, created a frigid, still atmosphere, as did Maestro Bychkov’s pit. Lenski, sung by Ukrainian tenor, Bolshoi finished Bogdan Volkov, spoke his famed aria “Where, where have you gone, O golden days of my spring” as a profoundly wrenching soliloquy, deeply felt by both singer and spectator within the frigidity of the staging, the lighting and the orchestra pit. Lenski’s death was a chilling re-creation of the starkly emotional bleakness of a duel, emphasizing its procedure, eschewing its romance.
Tatiana, sung by Armenian, Paris finished soprano Ruzan Mantashyan, greatly resembled the Tatiana of Martha Fiennes’ film, though adding the persuasion and power of the Russian language. Director Ralph Fiennes’ Tatiana is the catalyst of Onegin’s emotional wreckage, she herself not presented as a character of great depth or interest, though she was finally of great resolve. Mlle. Mantashyan vocally well fulfilled both Tchaikovsky’s vocal requirements and Mr. Fiennes’ demands, tearing up the stage as she rejects Onegin’s advances.
The cast included Russian diva Elena Zaremba as a well-sung Filipievna, Maltese mezzo soprano Marvin Monreal as a strong voiced Olga, Ukrainian bass Alexander Tsymbalyuk as a towering, convincing Gremin. Director Fiennes made his Monsieur Triquet an annoying presence, well fulfilled by British character tenor Peter Brander. American mezzo soprano Susan Graham was a fish-out-of-water as Madame Larina, vocally and dramatically pallid. Armenian bass Amin Ahangaran was the cold-blooded Zareski.
Michael Milenski
Palais Garnier, Paris, France, February 14, 2026.
All photos copyright Guergana Damianova / OnP., courtesy of the Opéra National de Paris