The interpretation of the intimate and romantic duel of ‘Eugenio Oneguin’ wins the audience at the Teatro Real

The interpretation of the intimate and romantic duel from the opera ‘Eugene Onegin’, by the composer Konstantin S. Shilovsky and with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, has convinced the audience of the Teatro Real, delivered during its premiere this Wednesday, January 22, although, however, , has issued a contrary verdict regarding the staging.

The production, which for the first time is owned by the Real along with the Oslo opera house and the Liceu in Barcelona, ​​is based on the novel of the same name in verse by the Russian poet and playwright Aleksandr S. Pushkin and has returned to the stages of the Madrid theater after 15 years old.

Among other authorities, the Secretary of State for Energy, Joan Groizard, attended the premiere of ‘Eugenio Oneguin’; the undersecretary for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Miguel Ángel González Suela; the president of Europa Press, Asís Martín de Cabiedes; the president of the FNMT, Isabel Valldecabres; the delegate of Culture, Tourism and Sports of the Madrid City Council, Marta Rivera de la Cruz; or the Honorary Patron of the Teatro Real, Alberto Ruiz Gallardón.

As the artistic director of the Teatro Real, Joan Matabosch, announced a week ago, the work is a manifesto “against the operatic” in the sense that there are no huge sets or great effects, although they were not necessary because the voices and the music, directed by Gustavo Gimeno, next musical director of the Teatro Real starting in September, filled the venue this afternoon. Gimeno has received numerous applause and a standing ovation for which many of those present have risen from their seats.

Precisely, this intimate character of the opera allows the actors to dazzle on stage, something that was among the objectives of the author, who wrote the libretto for young singers, capable of blending in with the characters, far from the divos of the opera houses. . This has caused continuous applause among those present during the three hours of the performance.

Thus, the opera is structured around two worlds differentiated by music: on the one hand, the countryside, evoked from the beginning by traditional songs and folk dances with a fluid and nostalgic texture, which has earned it the cheers of the public at various moments. , and on the other hand, the city of bourgeois salons, which allows the four protagonists to tour the stage marked by the waltz, the polonaise or the mazurka, a denser and richer orchestration.

Between these two worlds, Tatiana’s encounters and disagreements take place – played by soprano Kristina Mkhitaryan -; Onegin – played by baritone Iurii Samoilov -; Lenski – starring tenor Bogdan Volkov -, and Olga – mezzo-soprano Victoria Karkacheva -. They all act based on the impossibility of reciprocal and true love, a theme that floats throughout the entire production.

For the stage director Christof Loy, who has been tepidly dismissed by the Real’s audience, the three acts of the opera break its structure of symmetries, dividing the opera into two parts with different sets, protagonists and themes: the first, with a Almost cinematic decoration, although somewhat uncomfortable for the public on the sides of the venue, represents the sought-after solitude. While in the second, the closed room causes the characters to suffer from the loneliness that confronts them with themselves.

This intimacy and anti-operatic character has also been reflected in the costumes, which were in charge of Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky. The men have worn simple suits made up of shirts, jackets and vests, classic and formal but with solid figures.

Meanwhile, the artists who have given life to Tatiana and Olga have worn sober dresses in neutral colors although accompanied, in some scenes, by gray or black knitted jackets. This simplicity reflects the style of the author of the libretto, far from great artifice.

However, this sobriety is eclipsed in the first part of the opera by the aria that Tatiana sings to confess her love to Onegin in a passionate letter to which Tchaikovsky gives voice with Pushkin’s poetry and which has captivated the audience, who He has returned applause and several ‘bravos’ to Tatiana’s verses.

She, who immediately feels attracted to the hitherto unknown, will receive a refusal from Onegin, although that does not prevent the effect of this letter from remaining in the air of the Real for a few more minutes.

Although the music has accompanied the romantic story throughout the production, the doubts and regrets of the past suffered by the character of Onegin, one of the most applauded characters along with Tatiana, mark much of the rhythm on stage in the second part and that has not finished convincing some audience members.

“‘Eugene Onegin’, by Aleksandr Pushkin, is not so much a novel as an extensive narrative poem in which the most ardent elements of romanticism pulsate, but which also observes with pity and distance those same excesses of romantic passion. It is , almost, a disapproval of unbridled romanticism that is not capable of being tempered. The text invites us to purge passion of sentimentality to crudely reveal to us the pathos it hides,” explains Matabosch.

Thus, the spirit of Onegin, whom Matabosch calls a “good boy” and not a seducer, has convinced the Real audience, who at the end of the opera broke into applause and cheers for just over five minutes, although some of attendees have left their seats while others have shown their dissatisfaction with the stage direction and choreography.