Eugene Onegin at The Met

I really want to attend an opera at The Met (now that I have seen an NHL playoff game this is at the top of my bucket list) but, until I can make that happen, I decided the next best thing would be to see a live transmission of a production on the big screen.  I have been waiting for an opera that I love and, when I learned that The Met was programming Eugene Onegin this season, I immediately got a ticket and went to see it yesterday.  I fell in love with this opera when I saw a production by Utah Opera in 2000 (I have been waiting for them for them to program it again ever since).  The novel upon which it is based by Alexander Pushkin is one of my favorite pieces of Russian literature and I think you all know how I feel about the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky so I couldn't help but love it.  Tatiana (Asmik Grigorian) is an emotional young girl who longs for the kind of romance she finds in her novels but her carefree sister Olga (Maria Barakova), who is engaged to their neighbor Lenski (Stanislas de Barbeyrac), tells her to stop dreaming and enjoy life.  When Lenski brings the wealthy and aristocratic Eugene Onegin (Iurii Samoilov) to their estate in the country for a visit, Tatiana falls passionately in love with him.  She spends a sleepless night pining for him then impulsively writes a letter pouring out her feelings and has it delivered to him at dawn.  Onegin is a man of the world who refuses to be limited by marriage so he coldly rejects her and lectures her about her impetuosity.  Several months later, Lenski and Onegin attend Tatiana's name day celebration but Onegin is bored with country life and recklessly flirts with Olga, who momentarily falls under his spell, to distract himself.  Lenski feels betrayed by his friend and demands satisfaction.  When Onegin tries to reconcile, Lenski is unmoved and does not survive the duel.  Several years later, Onegin is tormented by remorse for killing his friend and wanders aimlessly abroad.  Upon his return to St. Petersburg, he attends a ball given by Prince Gremin (Alexander Tsymbalyuk) and is surprised to learn that Tatiana is his wife.  As Gremin describes his happiness with Tatiana, Onegin realizes that he loves her and contrives to meet with her privately.  He begs her to forgive him for his mistake in refusing her but she is now a woman of the world with a prominent position in society and, even though she still loves him, she leaves him in despair.  This production is breathtaking with emotional performances that are absolutely riveting. Grigorian is a world-renowned soprano known for her dramatic and immersive interpretations of complex characters and her rendition of the famous Letter Scene did not disappoint.  She portrays so many different emotions (infatuation, longing, passion, exhilaration, vulnerability, fear, shame, and desperation) that I had goosebumps!  I love Tchaikovsky's music in this scene and The Met Orchestra, under the baton of Timur Zangiev, also infuses different moods into the repeating melody.  Barbeyac gives a beautiful and heartbreaking performance of the aria "Where have you gone, O golden days of my spring" as he hopes that Olga will remember him when he is dead and the juxtaposition between Samoilov's aloof rendition of "If I had wanted to limit my life to the family circle" and his desperation in "Is this the same Tatiana" is incredibly striking, especially when his voice falters from the intense emotion in the latter.  The staging is very dynamic, particularly the choreography for the folk dances at the harvest celebration, the waltzes at Tatiana's name day party, and the stylized promenade at the ball.  The sets are much more minimal than I was expecting considering the size of the stage but I loved the snow-covered trees and the sunrise projection used during the duel.  I have to admit that it felt odd eating popcorn at an opera but I loved this and will definitely see another live transmission at my local movie theater (go here for upcoming performances).

Note:  The cameras went backstage during the pauses and intermissions and I was impressed with the sheer number of people needed for the scene changes and how efficiently they worked (especially by how fast they covered the stage in snow which was rivaled only by how fast they removed it).