With arguably the best ending of any opera, it was exciting to sit down to take in Wolf Trap Opera’s production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. As with the production of Dialogues of the Carmelites last year, the orchestra was placed in the back of the stage, behind an amazing set of grass and trees.
Suffice to say, the concert hall at The Barns clearly loved the voices of this cast, to say nothing of how Tchaikovsky’s heavenly score felt like it enveloped both performers and audience in its sound-world.
First among the soloists of the cast was Elissa Pfaender as Olga. Her beautiful, rich, and powerful voice made it feel like she was born to sing this role. Not only that, but also she was an adorable match for Daniel O’Hearn as Lensky, Onegin’s best friend.
Not to leave Olga alone, Tchaikovsky has several plum roles for mezzos in this score. Cecilia McKinley, excellent as Filipyevna, brought compelling physicality and vocalism to her role. Aubrey Odle was delightfully maternal, warm, and beautiful as Madame Larina. These ladies added so much character and life to their scenes, they were a pleasure to hear and watch even aside from how well they supported the leading lady diva and star of the show, Tatiana, played by Magdalena Kuzma.
It is hard to describe how perfect Kuzma is in this role, but the first word that comes to mind is: gorgeous. Her Tatiana is instantly likeable, innocent, and genuine all at once, as in the sweet grandmother-granddaughter scene she shared with McKinley. Beautiful and full of stamina, she has total control over her instrument, which she got to show off especially with the powerful letter scene, including her incredible chest register. She owned it; it was perfect and everything one could want from that iconic moment in the score.
Playing opposite her as Onegin was Finn Sagal, who commanded attention from the first notes he sang as well as from the arrogant, swaggering physicality he chose for his character. Handsome in look as well as voice, it is easy to see why Tatiana takes an interest in this Onegin. It makes his rejection of her that much more disappointing, but of course the rejection is not the worst part – it’s his admonishment of her after. And worse was still to come.
Meanwhile, fresh off bringing the house down with Liebestorte at his recital earlier this season, O’Hearn was not only well-paired with Pfaender as Olga, but he also brought his beautiful tenor to Lensky. His voice combined with Sagal’s when their characters sang in harmony was absolutely lovely, and his aria before their duel was amazing. It’s in that duel scene that these actors created a devastating moment of hope that it might turn out somehow. There was palpable anticipation before Onegin fired his gun, and terrible silence after. No one wanted to applaud after the duel scene, nor make any sound at all.
Come the third act, director Emma Griffin staged an excellent entrance for Tatiana, with the chorus creating anticipation to seeing the young lady-turned-princess. Her husband, Prince Gremin, played by Sergio Martinez, got thunderous applause after his aria, not only because of how well he sang it, but perhaps also because it’s here that Tchaikovsky illustrates so well how much Onegin failed to see in Tatiana. One gets the impression from Martinez’s heartfelt rendition that he now has everything Onegin doesn’t: true love and companionship, and that Tatiana is the most worthy of all that love he has to give. And it drives Onegin wild with jealousy. It made the amazing final scene between Onegin and Tatiana all the more satisfying, with Kuzma delivering fantastic reactions to reading his letter, Sagal begging her to be with him, and she ultimately giving him a final rejection of her own.
With this cast of stellar leads, a stellar chorus is in order, and that is what the audience got. They sang beautifully under conductor Steven White, who deserves credit too for providing such a crucial piece of the sound-world: direction of the luscious orchestra. And the rest of the principals deserve recognition as well, in particular Jack Hicks, who made a delightful impression as the drunk Monsieur Triquet with his beautiful tenor in the second act, while the sad and even disturbing rivalry between Onegin and Lensky was playing out.
In turn, overseeing the other pieces of the sound-world, Griffin’s staging and direction of the actors was excellent, and scenic designer Lee Jellinek’s sets were beautiful, all based around the initial green forest. Alejandro Farjado’s lighting design was effective, especially at points in the opera when the audience was treated to cooler colors and soft, even romantic lantern light. The only downside of the production? The time period of the costumes was confusing. There was peasant clothing juxtaposed with leather jackets and athletic pants, yet Onegin and Lensky were wearing vests with ties, as one might expect in a more traditional production. That said, every other element of this production was so enchanting and transfixing that one could decide not to care what the actors were wearing. May this cast reunite for more productions of this opera together. They deserve it.
Maggie Ramsey
Eugene Onegin
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Libretto by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Konstantin Shilovsky
Cast and Production Staff:
Madame Larina – Aubrey Odle; Filipyevna – Cecilia McKinley; Olga – Elissa Pfaender; Tatiana – Magdalena Kuzma; Lensky – Daniel O’Hearn; Eugene Onegin – Finn Sagal; Monsieur Triquet – Jack Hicks; Commander – Michael Mensah; Zaretsky – Jack Burrows; Prince Gremin – Sergio Martinez; Chorus – Wolf Trap Opera Studio
Conductor – Steven White; Director – Emma Griffin; Scenic Design – Lee Jellinek; Costume Design – Christopher Ford; Lighting Design – Alejandro Farjado; Hair & Makeup Design – Anne Nesmith
Principal and Russian Diction Coach, Chorus Master – Ksenia Leletkina; Coaches – Ye In Kwak, Gabrielé Zemaityté; Supertitles – Joseph Stevens; Production Stage Manager – Annie Wheeler; Assistant Stage Manager – Emma Rocheleau
The Barns at Wolf Trap, Vienna, VA, July 17, 2026
Top image: (L-R) Aubrey Odle, Elissa Pfaender, Cecilia McKinley
All photos by Rich Kessler