Drawn from Alexander Pushkin’s 1833 novel-in-verse Eugene Onegin, Tchaikovsky’s eponymous opera could have been called after its heroine Tatyana Larin. Judging by this magnificent production and some compelling performances, I suspect Tchaikovsky might have had the same thought. Possibly also theatre director Max Webster who has thrown together some perceptive ideas for Grange Festival’s new staging and clearly believes Pushkin’s drama of ill-fated love belongs as much to Onegin as to Tatyana. The composer even admitted he was “in love with the image of Tatyana”.
By placing the dining interval halfway through Act Two, Webster makes much of the parallels, musical and dramatic, between Tatyana’s love for Onegin and his later passion for her. As if to underline this reflected viewpoint Webster and costume designer Frankie Bradshaw dress the entire chorus and dancers as women in traditional attire for the opera’s first half at Madame Larina’s country estate. Later, at Prince Gremin’s Palace, the chorus are all rigged out with white tie and tails, creating a neat mirror image. Added to this, Webster makes use of dancers to conjure Tatyana’s restless emotions following her first encounter with Onegin. In Act Three, they echo his passionate feelings as he scribbles frantic appeals to her. Effective use is also made of the chorus at the start as they process in fully absorbed in reading to replicate Tatyana’s habit. And what a distinctive presence and sound they make, moving with military precision in the dances and singing with real élan.
But it is the singing of the principals, most notably Armenian born soprano Ruzan Mantashyan as Tatyana,that really makes this production an absolute winner. She moves effortlessly from a dreamy bookworm to a dignified society beauty, seemingly reconciled to her elevated status as a loyal wife to Prince Gremin. It’s a thoroughly convincing portrayal enhanced by some fabulous singing, with expressive nuance in her letter aria as she makes clear her feelings towards Onegin. Then in the work’s closing scene, her soaring phrases ravish the ear as she admits to still loving him and perfectly catching Tatyana’s conflicting emotions, every gesture meaningful and harnessed to singing of remarkable beauty. The emotional charge is palpable.
No less credible is Vladislav Chizhov’s aloof and initially scornful Onegin (all good looks and velvet baritone) whose sneering “do try and learn some self-control” belittles Tatyana’s adolescent ardour. Indifferent to her feelings, his dalliance with the not so innocent Olga prompts the jealous Lensky into an ill-considered duel. Only later does Onegin regret his insensitivity, captured well by Chizhov in his awkwardness when meeting the now married Tatyana, who he can barely look at.
Amongst other cast members, Ryan Vaughan Davies makes for a stylish and vocally refined Lensky, his Act Two lament reflecting on his life generating a rare stillness in the theatre. Anticipating the fateful outcome, he delivered his soliloquy in front of the curtain with haunting pathos. Elsewhere, Diana Montague as the motherly Madame Larina and Catherine Wyn-Rogers as the warm-toned nurse Filipyevna both inhabit their roles with ease, as too does Toby Spence whose natural stage presence charms as the French entertainer Triquet. Not least is Mark Kurmanbayev’s noble and sonorous Gremin and Alice Chung’s animated Olga.
All play out within Bradshaw’s economical sets, marking changing locations with a couple of trees and some palatial chandeliers, one drooping in a deflated manner on the stage floor as Onegin realises what he has lost. Earlier, the wintery duel scene is sharply conveyed in front of a blood red and snowy white curtain, ominously lit by Jack Knowles.
Below stage there is some wonderfully authoritative musical direction from Lidiya Yankovskaya who draws terrific playing from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, her traversal both passionate and sensitive, yet invigorating the score and bringing out all its myriad felicities and romance.
David Truslove
Eugene Onegin
Music: Pyotyr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Libretto: by the composer and Konstantin Stepanovich Shilovsky after the verse novel by Alexander Pushkin
Cast and Production Staff:
Eugene Onegin –Vladislav Chizhov; Tatyana – Ruzan Mantashyan, Lensky – Ryan Vaughan Davies; Olga –Alice Chung; Larina – Diana Montague; Filipyevna – Catherine Wyn-Rogers; Gremin – Mark Kurmanbayev; Triquet – Toby Spence; Zaretsky – Alex Pratley; Katerina – Laura Mekhail
Director – Max Webster; Designer – Frankie Bradshaw; Lighting – Jack Knowles;
Choreography – Arthur Pita; Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra; Conductor – Lidiya Yankovskaya
The Grange Festival, Northington, Hampshire, 26 June 2026
All photos © Richard Hubert Smith