# A Spectacular Jevgeni Onegin at the DNO



## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

Conductor - Mariss Jansons
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Director - Stefan Herheim
Larina - Olga Savova
Tatyana - Krassimira Stoyanova
Olga - Elena Maximova
Filipjevna - Nina Romanova
Ljenski - Andrej Dunaev
Onegin - Bo Skovhus
Gremin - Mikhail Petrenko

This was a very unique and spectacular performance, that I was lucky enough to witness this Monday. For those of you in NL, It will be broadcast on TV this Sunday, and im sure a DVD will be released for everyone else.

I dont believe I need to spend too much time on the music, performed here by the worlds greatest musical partnership and so it was understandably near perfect. The singers were also quite good with some beautiful voices. All the leads were russian singers as you can see.

What made this performance extra special was the staging and the special touch given to the story by Herheim. It was not set in a chronological order, the beginning scenes where Tatjana reminisces meeting Yevgeni and writing the letter are set as if they are memories. Tatjana has escaped from an exclusive party in a hotel, she sits in the lobby alone thinking about her past, occasionally the prince Gremin comes to check on her. We see the first and 2nd acts in this manner. Act 3 appears to be in 'real time', Onjegin follows the prince and Tatjana to the party, a sound trick fools you into thinking the music is background music in the lobby, suddenly the orchestra starts playing seamlessly as Onjegin bursts into the hotel, emerging into the present as if through some time-warp. We see his confrontation with Tatjana, the torment and confusion - as if this is why Tatjana had to escape the party and think about her past in the previous acts.
Brilliant.


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