New London’s Connecticut Lyric Opera will start its 2008-2009 season this weekend with a production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Garde Arts Center in New London.
The performance, on Nov. 23, is the first in the state to be performed entirely in Russian, as it was performed at its premier in Moscow in 1879.
Connecticut Lyric Opera’s General and Artistic Director Adrian Sylveen Mackiewicz said the opera is widely regarded as Tchaikovsky’s greatest opera, and to his knowledge it has never been performed in Connecticut in its original language.
“Onegin represents many facets of the Slavic musical culture, Russian in particular, but it’s not limited to Russian only,” he explained.
Beyond the music and the language, Mackiewicz said that the piece reflects “a certain kind of nostalgia connected with deeply religious traditions held throughout eastern Europe and Russia.”
Mackiewicz said Connecticut Lyric Opera chose the piece because of the opportunity it presented to feature several people from that region of the world in the production.
“We have a team of people who could do it in a way that could reflect that cultural element,” Mackiewicz said.
Those include Russian baritone Maksim Ivanov (Marcello in La Boheme, Capulet in Romeo et Juliette) and Lithuanian soprano Jurate Svedaite (Mimi in La Boheme, Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro) who hold the title role of Eugene Onegin and his jilted love Tatyana Larina, respectively. Both are longtime Connecticut Lyric Opera performers and vocal instructors at Connecticut College.
“The story is a wonderful, wonderful piece of world literature,” Svedaite said. “It’s a beautiful work that’s starting to really get popular in the U.S.”
The story is based on Aleksandr Pushkin’s novel and follows Eugene Onegin as he finds himself in Russia’s countryside outside of St. Petersburg, where he meets Tatyana Larina, elder sister of Olga Larina, whom Onegin’s friend Lenski is engaged to marry.
Tatyana falls in love with Eugene Onegin and writes him a letter in which she confesses her love for him, which according to Svedaite is a “big no-no” in Russian society, circa the 1820s.
Onegin ultimately rejects Tatyana, and later flirts with her younger sister, which angers Lenski, who challenges Onegin to a duel. During the duel, Onegin shoots Lenski dead.
The third act takes place a few years later. Onegin is still remorseful over Lenski’s death and feels that his life is empty. He attends the ball of Prince Gremin, who enters the room with his wife—Tatyana.
Realizing his true feelings for Tatyana, Onegin writes her a letter, begging for her love. Tatyana asks him to leave, and remains faithful to her husband.
“In the plot we see a certain faithfulness to certain social systems and certain social values,” Mackiewicz said, an example of the deeply rooted traditions of the region.
Svedaite has performed a number of roles with the Connecticut Lyric Opera, but has a special fondness for Tatyana. Growing up in Lithuania, “We discussed that novel upwards and forwards and backwards,” Svedaite said. And for the most part, she’d always thought of it as a love story. Now, however, it’s “the incredible strength” of Tatyana that really appeals to her.
“She found the strength and had to say no,” Svedaite said.
Svedaite said that over the course of the opera, Tatyana transforms from a “fragile, impressionable young girl to a strong woman.”
Other cast members include Andrew Drost (frequent New York City Opera soloist), who makes his Connecticut Lyric Opera debut as Lensky, and Valerie Nicolosi (Count Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus and Stephano in Romeo et Juliette) as Olga, Tatyana’s sister.
This production will be directed by internationally acclaimed Polish stage director Jaroslaw Strzemien, with sets and costumes designed by Broadway designer Ken Mooney. The opera will be fully staged with orchestra, chorus, and English super-titles projected above the stage.
Tickets for the 7 p.m. performance on Nov. 23 are available through the Garde Arts Center at www.gardearts.org, in person at the box office, or by phone at 860-444-7373.
Eugene Onegin is co-produced by the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Connecticut Lyric Opera’s resident orchestra. Two additional performances will follow on the orchestra’s home stage, the Trinity-on-Main Arts Center in New Britain on Nov. 28 and Dec. 7.
By Michelle Royce Williams
Special to the Times
For additional information about Connecticut Lyric Opera, call 860-440-3594 or visit CtLyricOpera.org.