The central figure of Tchaikovsky's opera is Tatyana, the young girl who falls in love with Onegin. This part is played with spell-binding insight by Tatyana Poluektova. The dream-like scene in which, inspired by her reading of sentimental English authors, she writes a letter to Onegin, was a revelation of what a gifted singer can bring to a part. In this she was greatly helped by the clever lighting (Adam Silverman) and the director's dramatic vivification of the scene.
The overture, played with compelling authenticity by the RTE Concert Orchestra conducted by Vadim Munster, set the mood for much that was to follow. Indeed, the orchestral interludes were not the least part of the pleasure that was to be had from the performance as a whole. A special word of praise must be given to the Opera Ireland Chorus, chorus master Fergus Sheil, who sang with a full-bodied tone that made the Peasants' Chorus in Scene One sound quite Russian in its fervour.
The part of Onegin (John Hancock) only comes to life in the final scene, and here, in his final meeting with Tatyana, the singer showed that he was equal in passion to his friend Lensky, who was sung with great intensity by Ivan Choupenitch. The other members of the cast made telling contributions to the final effect, and Neville Ackermann as Monsieur Triquet provided a delightful vignette in his little ditty about "La belle Tatyana".
The sets by Bruno Schwengl, for all their simplicity, combined elegance and a feel for what it must have been like in Russia in Pushkin's time. In the last scene but one the set became surreal, with a Magritte-like superimposition of picture frames; and the director (James Robinson) accentuuated the effect by making the cast enter the stage as if in a funeral while the orchestra was playing a polonaise! It was a genuine coup de theatre.
Eugene Onegin plays tomorrow, Thursday and Saturday. Booking on: 01-6771717