#the german couple from Koblenz next to me wasn't that impressed by this production

[muchadoabout]

Eugene Onegin at the Zürich Opera House

Music Direction Gianandrea Noseda Producer Barrie Kosky Tatyana Ekaterina Sannikova Onegin Igor Golovatenko Lensky Benjamin Bernheim Gremin Vitalij Kowaljow | 24.02.2023

So, I finally got around to writing about my experience seeing Eugene Onegin at the Zürich Opera House. Let's get into it! 

The show started promptly at 7 pm, but we were allowed to enter the auditorium at 6 pm. Before the performance, there was a 15-minute introduction of the opera. However, since I'm not fluent in German, I could only understand about 80% of it.

The production, directed by Barrie Kosky, was set in an "idyllic forest" and remained more or less the same throughout the entire opera. The stage was a rotating turf surrounded by fake trees. The only time there was an additional set was during the Gremin’s palace scene, but it was dismantled during Onegin’s arioso, creating a distraction for the audience (or at least for me). 

I initially didn't understand the director's creative directions, particularly the symbolism of the jam jar that appeared hold significant meaning, until I read this review that shed some light on it. 

To my untrained ears, the performers were vocally exceptional. The auditorium was relatively small, and their voices reached even the farthest seat. Each performer excelled in their respective arias, but I was particularly impressed by Kowaljow’s rendition of Gremin’s “All men surrender to Love's power” aria, which I specifically wrote on my note as being sung “perfectly”. Sannikova and Golovatenko shared a believable chemistry, which is an crucial element of playing Tatyana and Onegin. Bernheim, who was on his home turf *ba dum tss*, received the loudest and longest cheers from the audience, which was so well-deserved. 

Here are some notable moments of this production: 

The whole scene of Olga/Lesky duet was unfortunately completely blocked from my view. However, there was a cute moment when those two were singing, Onegin and Tatyana were busy flirting with each other.

During the party scene, Onegin was jokingly massaging Lensky’s shoulders when he was being sulky. I assumed this was a character choice made by Golovatenko. It was quite funny. 

The pre-duel scene between Lensky and Onegin was executed with more respect compared to the Komische Oper's version of this production. Onegin was not mockingly laughing at Lensky. At the end of their duet, they were just sitting side-by-side, with Onegin’s arm over Lensky’s shoulders, which made the subsequent duel seem pointless. 

The duel scene in Act 2 was played off-stage. Tatyana’s scream echoed as Onegin returned to the stage with his once white now stained with blood, closing the act with the most dramatic end.

During the introduction session, it was explained that the rain effect used in the final scene was actually warm water to ensure that the performers would not feel cold while singing the most poignant duet. 

Overall, it was a great experience. I did not dislike this production. Neverteless, I did wish that some of the moments were played differently. Despite being a simple opera, Eugene Onegin has a lot of nuances that unfortunately only few productions manage to capture.