United Kingdom Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin: Soloists, Refrain and Orchestra of Northern Eire Opera / Dominic Limburg (conductor). Grand Opera Home, Belfast, 17.9.2024. (RB)
Manufacturing:
Director – Cameron Menzies
Set designer and Video director – Niall McKeever
Costume designer – Gillian Lennox
Lighting designer – Kevin Treacy
Video designer – Neil O’Driscoll
Motion director – Jennifer Rooney
Solid:
Eugene Onegin – Yuriy Yurchuk
Tatyana – Mary McCabe
Lensky – Norman Reinhardt
lga – Sarah Richmond
Madame Larina – Carolyn Dobbin
Filipevna – Jenny Bourke
Monsieur Triquet – Aaron O’Hare
Prince Gremin – Niall Anderson
A Captain – Matthew Jeffrey
Zaretsky – Seamus Brady
Tatyana (Older) – Anne Flanagan
Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin is a set of seven lyrical scenes which depict dramatic occasions within the lives of two {couples}. There is no such thing as a steady plot improvement however moderately an outline of key incidents which profoundly have an effect on the 4 essential characters (Puccini makes use of the identical method in La bohème). Tchaikovsky was very conversant in Pushkin’s verse novel on which the opera relies, and he and his pal Konstantin Shilovsky organised the libretto, utilizing a lot of the unique poetry from that work.
Cameron Menzies’s new manufacturing frames the opera from the vantage level of the older Tatyana, performed by Anne Flanagan. When the opera opens, she is wheeled into a big sparsely adorned room in her care residence by her nurse. She remembers the painful occasions which occurred to her and her sister and their lovers. Within the well-known Letter Scene, she turns into a part of the dramatic narrative choosing up pages of the letter and handing them over to her youthful self. There are recollections of the giddy pleasure of younger love, of latest and misplaced alternatives and of dread because the tragic occasions inexorably slide into tragedy.
Tchaikovsky follows Pushkin’s lead in setting the motion in St Petersburg and the encompassing countryside within the 1820s. On this manufacturing the motion is cut up throughout totally different time intervals. The costumes for the older Tatyana and her nurses point out a recent setting however the principle occasions of the opera happen on the finish of the nineteenth century. At varied factors within the opera the employees within the nursing residence be part of the principle contributors within the opera in among the choruses. This had the impact of reminding us of the way in which through which reminiscence can blur the occasions of the previous and invade the current.
Niall McKeever’s set was a big room sparsely adorned with furnishings but in addition containing objects referring to the occasions of the opera similar to bales of hay within the first scene. The set remained constant all through and the varied scene adjustments have been instructed by Neil O’Driscoll’s video projections and Kevin Treacy’s lighting. There have been projections of bushes and foliage within the opening scene, opulent lighting within the ballroom scene and rain and snow within the duel scene. Shiny lighting shone by means of the home windows on the finish of Tatyana’s letter scene. This strategy labored properly and bolstered the concept the viewers have been witnessing these occasions by means of the hazy impressionistic lens of Tatyana’s recollections.
Gillian Lennox’s costumes helped to anchor the motion specifically time frames. Within the opening scene the peasants have been carrying a powerful number of interval costumes along with straw masks conveying the festive celebrations. The aristocratic males wore formal frock coats, and the ladies wore easy white clothes for essentially the most half. Onegin was wearing a lilac driving coat firstly of the opera whereas the ladies wore pastel-coloured robes within the ballroom scene. In distinction the nurses caring for the older Tatyana appeared like common NHS staff.
The solid have been on advantageous type and gave first fee performances. Ukrainian baritone, Yuriy Yurchak, captured the allure and haughty vanity of Onegin to perfection within the early scenes. There was a hanging distinction with the distraught, dishevelled character who we noticed languishing at Tatyana’s ft within the ultimate scene. His voice was highly effective and imposing at varied factors rising above large orchestral forces, however he was additionally sensual and lyrical and blended fantastically with the opposite performers within the ensemble scenes. His ultimate duet with Mary McCabe’s Tatyana was thrilling each dramatically and musically and his ultimate cries have been devastating. Tatyana is Mary McCabe’s first principal position, and she or he gave an assured efficiency. She was profitable in charting Tatyana’s transformation from shy and smitten nation woman to the dazzling aristocrat who greets us on the finish of the opera. I might have welcomed a wider palette of tone colors within the well-known Letter Scene and at occasions she wanted larger vocal projection. She was extra convincing within the ultimate two scenes and her ultimate rejection of Onegin was dramatic and compelling.
Norman Reinhardt excelled within the position of Lensky, and he introduced mellifluous lyricism and a boisterous enthusiasm to his vocal entries within the early scenes. He excelled in conveying Lensky’s rising jealousy within the pivotal fourth scene. He sang Lensky’s ultimate aria with a plangent fantastic thing about tone and emotional anguish whereas the orchestra’s decrease strings captured the pervading sense of Russian melancholy. Sarah Richmond invested Olga with a profitable exuberance and infectious allure. She gave an completed efficiency of Olga’s aria within the opening scene, and I used to be struck by the readability of her diction. She blended fantastically with the opposite singers within the ensemble numbers.
The opposite singers supplied first fee assist all through. Niall Anderson was significantly spectacular within the position of Prince Gremin, bringing huge weight and depth of sound to the vocal line. Carolyn Dobbin and Jenny Bourke introduced the characters of Madame Larina and Filipevna vividly to life. Dobbin was the right hostess attempting to chart her daughters’ passage in society whereas Bourke was caring and allotted homespun knowledge to her fees. Aaron O’Hare clearly had enjoyable with the position of Monsieur Triquet, taking part in the position of courtroom jester and entertainer.
Dominic Limburg stored a decent grip on the night’s proceedings and his pacing of the music was exemplary. He and the Orchestra of Northern Eire Opera captured the drama, emotional anguish and pathos of Tchaikovsky’s rating to perfection. Limburg ensured there was a superb stability with the singers and the orchestra have been versatile in accompanying the vocal numbers. There was a glittering backdrop of sound within the well-known Letter Scene. I used to be impressed with the way in which through which Limburg was capable of ratchet up the thrill within the ultimate a part of the fourth scene. The massive refrain set piece numbers and dance sequences have been executed brilliantly and all of them have been greeted with enthusiastic applause from the viewers.
Total, this was a first-rate efficiency of Tchaikovsky’s nice masterpiece and one other triumph for Northern Eire Opera.
Robert Beattie
Click on right here to learn a current interview with Yuriy Yurchuk and Cameron Menzies
