Opera "Eugene Onegin": content, video, interesting facts, history

P.I. Tchaikovsky opera "Eugene Onegin"

In a musical piece "Eugene Onegin“Tchaikovsky sang the heights of feelings and the poetry of Pushkin’s soul Tatiana. Having preserved the primeval characteristics of the main characters, the composer portrayed them somewhat differently. Thus, Lensky’s operatic appearance becomes a reproduction of sincerity and enthusiasm of feelings, uniting Tatiana’s emotional relationship. their fates are closely intertwined in this drama. The scenes organically depict the emotional experiences of lyrical heroes, emphasize the depth of their feelings and emotions. The music seems to complete the innuendo of words is a continuation of the characters' speech.It must be said that the operatic interpretation of Pushkin’s novel literally fascinated the public and marked the beginning of a new stage in the genre of lyrical opera.

Summary of the opera Tchaikovsky "Eugene Onegin" and a lot of interesting facts about this work, read on our page.

Summary of "Eugene Onegin"

Events begin in the estate Larin. Here you can hear the girlish tunes of young women - Tatyana and Olga. Mother of girls and nanny Filippovna with nostalgia remember their young years. With songs and gifts on the occasion of the end of the harvest peasants come to the estate.

A neighbor boy and Olga's admirer, Lensky, drives up to the Larins' house. Guest is accompanied by his friend, Onegin, who came from the capital. The freedom-loving guy feels terrible boredom in the wilderness and does not know what to have fun. The sentimental Tatyana falls in love with the mannered Onegin at first sight.
After meeting with Onegin, Tatyana finds no peace. Trying to distract herself, the girl asks her nanny to tell her something about her young years. However, the conversation with Filippovna does not bring peace, and Tatyana decides to write a letter to her lover. All night Larina describes her feelings and asks for the morning babysitter to deliver a love message secretly.

Tatiana is anxiously waiting for a response from her lover. The girl hopes for reciprocity, but Onegin’s response disappointed her. The young man thanks his fan for sincerity, but he restrainedly reports that he is not ready for a serious attitude and marriage bonds. The moralities of the social guest leave a bitter residue in Tatiana's soul.

Name Tatyana. Guests have fun and congratulate the hero of the occasion, among them - Lensky and Onegin. The guest from St. Petersburg is terribly bored; provincial gossip and empty talk at the ball are alien to him. In order to dispel melancholy and take revenge on Lensky for a dull evening, Onegin decided to look after Olga. The flighty coquette accepts courtship, and the whole evening dances with the admirer's friend. Lensky offended by the actions of the bride and comrade. During the next dance friends quarrel and Lensky in a fit of anger causes Onegin to a duel. No persuasion pacifies young people. Challenge accepted.
Winter morning. Lensky arrived at the appointed place of the duel. All his thoughts and reasonings are dedicated to Olga. Onegin appears, and the duelists take their positions. The battle becomes fatal for Lensky.

Onegin returns to St. Petersburg and suddenly meets with Tatiana at the capital's ball. However, now the girl is not free. Prince Gremin enthusiastically presents Onegin to his beloved spouse. Surrounded by sudden feelings, Onegin seeks to meet with Tatiana alone.

Tatyana reads the confession of Onegin in love. Love for him is still alive, but now she has no power. Onegin enters, he utters words of love and repentance. Alarmed, Tatiana recalls the past, her confessions and rejected love. However, now she is a faithful wife and pride does not allow her to commit rash actions and give herself to passionate feelings. Tatyana appeals to Onegin’s honor and asks him to leave. Loneliness becomes an eternal companion of the main character, who loses a friend, a loved one and hope for reciprocity.

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Interesting Facts

• When writing the opera, the book plot of "Eugene Onegin" has undergone a number of changes. For example, Chaikovsky otherwise described the challenge of Lensky to Onegin. According to the original Pushkin, the appointment of a duel between friends was secret, and in the opera a quarrel occurred in the presence of guests of the ball. The people commented on the quarrel and tried to reason with their comrades, but in vain. Tchaikovsky also portrays Tatiana in love in a slightly different way. Unlike Pushkin's heroine, the “opera” Tatyana regrets her written recognition even before the conversation with Onegin. Such a change in events contributes to no one rethinking the images of the main characters.
• The first productions of the opera "Eugene Onegin" ended with the tender embrace of Tatyana and Onegin, as well as the sudden appearance of Tatyana's wife, Gremina. This outcome caused discontent among the public, so the composer had to bring the musical work as close as possible to the original.
• The play "Eugene Onegin" is a new stage in the development of opera art, since it was the first piece of music created under the leadership of Stanislavsky.
• After staging the opera in Hamburg and Vienna under the direction of Gustav MahlerThe performance was very much appreciated by Tchaikovsky thanks to the high conducting art of a talented Austrian composer.

• To some extent, the work on "Eugene Onegin" influenced the personal life of the author. Working actively on sketches of opera, in the spring of 1877, the composer learns about Milyukova’s passionate love. A young student, like Tatiana, writes a love message to Tchaikovsky. The musician cannot reciprocate and hardly remembers the girl, therefore, by analogy with the Pushkin hero, he writes a polite refusal. However, some time later, another frank letter arrived from Antonina. Tchaikovsky is puzzled, he goes to a girl in love to see her. Acquaintance and communication with the persistent fan led to the composer's marriage in the summer of 1877. There is an opinion that Tchaikovsky tried to avoid the repetition of Onegin's mistake, but, in fact, he himself committed a rash act. The sudden marriage did not bring happiness, and three weeks after the marriage, the composer leaves the young wife.

• Initially the chamber performance of the opera was planned, but after a while Tchaikovsky created a new edition of the work. During the Soviet era, K.S. Stanislavsky initiated the re-creation of the original version of the opera. Now the viewer has the opportunity to see both editions.
• The recognition of the opera by the public occurred gradually. The product received high marks after changing scenes from setting to setting. Thus, the musical work turned into a performance intended for the big stage. Tchaikovsky's favorite brainchild was highly appreciated by both Russian and European audiences.
• Pushkin’s novel was staged on the Russian stage even before Tchaikovsky. The first production was created by composer A.S. Verstovsky, and the other - AF Lion Interestingly, the performances contained only some scenes of the work.
• Some printed responses about "Eugene Onegin" described the weakness of the image of the main character. Of course, Onegin did not cause Tchaikovsky the same sympathy and approval, as Lensky and Tatiana, however, and his role in the opera is described quite clearly. The first picture describes the secular mannerism and cold restraint of the St. Petersburg guest, and the last two pictures present Onegin in a completely different light. The particular drama is seen in the final scene of the opera, when the capital young man with a guilty head confesses to Tatyana of his passionate love.
• Whatever contradictory opinions were not published by critics in the press, the Russian public accepted the opera "Eugene Onegin" soul. The musical-dramatic work became the most popular in Russia and withstood 16 productions.

Popular arias and numbers from the opera "Eugene Onegin"

Aria of Lensky "What is the next day preparing for me?" (listen)

Scene of Tatiana's letter "Let me die ..." (listen)

Polonaise (listen)

Aria Onegin "You wrote to me ..." (listen)

Gremin's aria "Love all ages" (listen)

Music

"Eugene Onegin" is considered to be one of the best operas. In this work, the poems of the great poet naturally harmonize with the music, bearing soulfulness and drama. Through melodies, the talented composer showed the national traits of the Russian people in the best light, conveyed the sublimity of feelings, morality and moral stability of the main character.

As noted by the Russian composer and music critic Asafiev, the integrity of the musical composition "Eugene Onegin" is a series of arches and sound arrays, a kind of ceiling from one point of events to another. The musical fabric consists of decorated themes, small motifs and fret turns.

The performance consists of a variety of solo numbers, duets, but the mass scenes here are shown not so widely. The grand ensemble meets in the opera only once - in the final of the fourth film, during a scandal at the festive ball at the Larins. Only once did a small quartet sound in that part of the opera, when, against the background of communication between Lensky and Onegin, Tatiana's voice is agitated, full of passion and curiosity.

Numerous duets help to reveal the thoughts and feelings of the characters in the opera. The duet of the Larin sisters shows the character of dreamy Tatiana and the flirtatious Olga, and the ensemble of Onegin and Lensky before a duel emphasizes the whole drama of the circumstances that have become an obstacle for former friends. Even the chosen presentation for the duo only enhances this.

Arius in a piece of music is not enough. In fact, only the final scene of Lensky during a duel, as well as an episode with Gremin at the ball, can be called arias. Onegin’s response to Tatiana’s recognition was also originally called aria, but the lack of contrasts and the comparative brevity of music bring him closer to arioso.

The story of the creation of "Eugene Onegin"

The opera based on the plot of "Eugene Onegin" Tchaikovsky wrote on the advice of the singer E.A. Lavrovskoy. Initially, this idea seemed ridiculous to him, however, over time, the composer became so absorbed in the novel that he created a story just overnight, after which he began to write music. Knowledge of life and the delicate spiritual organization of Pushkin admired Tchaikovsky, and the composer called the book “Eugene Onegin” “holy”.

Cooperating with KS Shilovsky, Tchaikovsky wrote the libretto. In the script, the author sought to show the emotions and experiences of the characters, and called his work only the “lyrical scenes” of the novel.

"Eugene Onegin" is the embodiment of an ideal intimate and strong drama for Tchaikovsky, so the author was very worried about the future fate of his work. Wishing to achieve spontaneity and innocence during stage effects, the composer entrusted the performance of roles to students of the Moscow Conservatory.

The performance premiered in March 1879. After triumphant productions at the Bolshoi Moscow Theater and the Mariinsky St. Petersburg, the opera became one of the most sought-after and popular musical works.

Opera success Tchaikovsky "Eugene Onegin" consisted in the fact that each viewer found in the musical work an echo of his own experiences and feelings, and the heroes of the drama were perceived by the public as living and close in spirit people. The great Russian composer described Pushkin heroes in his own way, retaining their original charm and poetry.