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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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Eugene Onegin at Metropolitan Opera House Feb.2007
Tchaikovsky's dramatic score depicting Pushkin's tale of unrequited love is movingly portrayed by Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Onegin and Renée Fleming as Tatiana. With his rich, long-phrased baritone and artful characterisation Hvorostovsky brings to life a very credible Onegin, adapting from his cool response to Tatiana's letter to the empassioned profession of love in Act 3. Fleming's Tatiana dovetails this as a convincing ingénue in Act 1 leading to the honour-bound wife of Act 3. Her warm lyrical soprano producing a moving 'letter scene'. The production cleverly presents the action as taking place in Onegin's memory, starting with him alone on stage, during the orchestral introduction, holding Tatiana's letter, All around him are autumn leaves, some falling from between the pages of the letter, suggesting a mood of love lost.
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Stellar Tchaikovsky Performance
I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Hvorostovsky in this lead role with the Lyric Opera of Chicago this season. However, nothing would have topped the experience of seeing this live production of Eugene Onegin by the Metropolitan Opera. This production had a solid lead cast along with one of the best Tchaikovsky conductors out there. Hvorostovsky and Fleming have great chemistry on stage. The last tweleve minutes of the opera alone are worth the purchase of this dual disc. You really get wrapped up in the experience. Vargas brings tears to your eyes with his rendition of Lenski's Aria. If you're a fan of Tchaikovsky, beautiful music and a great story line, you'll love this opera. The bonus footage is a huge plus as well. I loved the orchestra rehearsal footage with Maestro Gergiev and the late great Beverly Sills interview backstage with Hvorostovsky and Fleming. This would be a great addition to any opera fans collection. Enjoy!
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Eugene Onegin DVD Fleming, Hvorostovsky
This is a fabulous version of this opera. I saw the real thing in person, not with Fleming, but with Hvorostovsky, and this DVD just captures the entire experience. It is a wonderful production and should not be passed by if you even like this opera only a little - beautiful music and incredible voices.
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REVIEW OF PUSHKIN'S ONEGIN
REVIEW OF PUSHKIN'S ONEGIN
The very talented cast is up to performing with passion Pushkin's Onegin, however Elena Zaremba would have been much better suited playing Tatiania's Mother and the more youthful looking Mother, Olga.
I do feel that Carsen's staging is a big disappointment to both the cast and certainly to the audience as well. It was a great distraction from the performances. One has to ask if Michael Levine has a prejudice against presenting Russian culture in his stage scenes. Two steel pipes and a stage strewn with leaves, does not make a birch forest in a Russian countryside. And what would it have cost production to have two pillars in the backdrop and a chandelier hanging from the center stage to convey a ballroom scene in St. Petersburg? The stark eclectic staging of Onegin is something only a Stalinist could appreciate.
I had considered seeing Onegin when it came to Chicago in March but after noting it was a Carsen-Levine staging I opted to buy the DVD and am so very glad I did so. I saved over $280. The performances are great despite the drab setting they were compelled to perform in. Supreme talent outshines a mediocre production.
J. Ray
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Minimalist Production Helped Elevate "Weakest Link" to Equal Star Status
Having seen this production at the MET and HD transmission to the movies, this DVD is outstanding in every way and highly recommended as a worthy addition to your collection. For those who have seen the production at the MET, it will enhance your enjoyment of the individual performances with close-ups of facial expressions of singers and other interesting nuances and other little amusing things you might have missed if you were seated far from the stage. This DVD is specially beneficial to those seeing this opera for the first time because of the elimination of extraneous and distracting things, which allows you to focus on the dramatic and musical inputs of the protagonists more clearly.
Having seen conventional, lavish productions of this opera in major houses, I had some apprehensions at first about how Act 3 would turn out stripped of the customary depiction of the opulence and splendor of St. Petersburg in Pushkin's time. With bare walls and just a few nice chairs around, the fantastic lighting effects and elegant coustumes made a big difference and saved this production from getting too "eurotrashy".
For me, the most important achievement of this production is the righting of the unfair characterization by critics, past and present, of the role of the poet Lenski as the "weakest link" among the principals. From the very first time I saw this opera, I have always felt that Lenski's music was the most beautiful in the opera and that Tchaikovsky identified more with Lenski's creative nature. So, why the "weakest link" tag ? This production provided the answer! That's why this minimalist ONEGIN is particularly helpful to first timers to the opera. By combining Acts 2 & 3 and eliminating the long intermission between the Acts & scenes as well as toning down the distracting, unnecessary elements extraneous to the story, this production allows the audience to focus not only on individual performances but the totality of their artistic contributions as well. In full lavish productions, Lenski dies at the end of Act 2. He is given a courtesy solo bow, and his night is done. After a 20-minute intermission or longer, a shot of vodka, champagne or margarita, the audience is ushered back to their seats for the beginning of Act 3.When the curtain opens, the audience is greeted by the majestic polonaise with elegantly dressed and bejewelled ladies of St. Petersburg's upper crust society, dancers and entertainers at Prince Gremin's palatial digs. The audience then gets to hear his beautiful aria and Onegin's two-minute arioso. Another time break for scene change, and then the final scene with Tatiana and Onegin culminating with the histrionics of their dysfunctional love relationship. End of opera - about one and a half hours after Lenski' death. Poor Lenski is a forgotten man by then. But not in this production! Here, after his death, he goes back to his dressing room, have coffee or something stronger (Bjoerling used to do it,why not), and half an hour later, he goes out on stage to receive the audience's feedback with the rest of the cast. That's
the way it should be, and the composer would have loved it.
This DVD may not be surpassed for a long time. The cast is just outstanding, from the three principals who are all at their best, down the line to Lenski's second at the duel scene. Renee Fleming and Dmitri Hvorostovsky will be very hard to top as Tatiana and Onegin because, not only do they possess beautiful voices and fine acting abilities, they also must have spent a lot of time studying and rehearsing together. It shows in their chemistry. Ramon Vargas gave the most vivid portrayal of the poet's persona that I have ever witnessed, and his subtle, well controlled and very effective acting covered a wide gamut of emotions from the lyrical Act 1 through varying degrees of distrust, jealousy and anger, and the heartbreaking resignation in Act 2. He even introduced a little humor in the middle of his ardent declaration of chaste love to the seated Olga by gently pushing the tray of goodies away from her to get her full attention. I missed that one in the theater, and I'm thankful for the DVD. His voice was absolutely gorgeous, and his singing superb throughout. His arioso in Act1 is just as beautiful as Onegin's aria at the end of the act. For some strange reason, Hvorostovsky received only a polite audience response with no bravos. I thought he gave a flawless and terrific rendition of the aria. In Act 2 Scene 1, Vargas dominated the singing in his reprimand of Olga for her flirting with Onegin, his private confrontation with Onegin and the escalation ending in throat grabbing before the guests. He opened the big quintet with chorus with a tender and touching recollection of the happiness he found at the Larin's home as an adolescent and ended the ensemble with a powerful, pained farewell to his beloved Olga. Lenski's aria Act2 Scene2, as sublimely sung by Vargas and lovingly accompanied by the great Met Orchestra under the super conductor of choice, Valery Gergiev, is one for the ages. Vargas just simply dominated all of Act 2. Renee Fleming dominated Act 1 with her wonderful, well nuanced Letter Scene which was warmly received by the audience.
So, is the "weakest link" going to steal the show from the Star? After Act3 Scene1, Lenski was still ahead in my tally. DH was in his best voice, and that's a lot. He must deliver the best performance of his life to catch the poet. Fleming could pass him too if he didn't. Fueled by Fleming's incredible acting and singing, which I have never seen from her before, he caught fire in the last six minutes, and the rest is history. He nailed that last note like Rigoletto's anguished maledezione with all the power and pathos he could muster. My verdict: it's a 3-way tie ! When Vargas came out for curtain calls , the audience did not forget the pleasures he had given them and gave him back a tremendous ovation with confetti as they did the other two stars. Aren't we blessed to have three stars of this caliber with an excellent group of supporting singers, the best opera orchestra in the world under the direction of the genius from St. Petersburg? Get this DVD fast, you will not be sorry.
![: Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Fleming, Vargas, Hvorostovsky, Gergiev, Carsen [Metropolitan Opera 2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31NNTMfZRWL._SL160_.jpg)
