Eugene Onegin

The English Touring Opera production at the Hackney Empire was a wonder to witness. As always the staging was slightly disconcerting - huge mirrors were employed - but to remarkable effect, especially in the ball scenes where it created the illusion of a mass of dancers instead of the dozen or so members of the cast.
Tchaikovsky's opera 'Eugene Onegin' requires great skills from the performers - exacting singing, enormously long arias, almost balletic dancing (frequently), dramtic acting, a score requiring the orchestra to play not as accompanists but as a symphony orchestra, and great stamina. Based on the classic Pushkin epic it is the tale of two sisters, one of whom is spoken for the other who falls for Eugene who fails to return the emotion. As is inevitable in opera there is death and passion, many fallings in and out of love, and a not entirely happy ending, for opera should not be anything other than tragic to my mind.
The letter scene ( six hours attemting to construct a love letter contracted into a ten minute aria) is a tour de force and needs a soprano of great skill - and here this was achieved with enormous finesse. As this is Tchaikovsky the dance scenes have beautiful melodies, and some of the musical passages are worthy of being a movement in a symphony.
I love this opera and will seek it out in future. My rating: 9/10