Tchaikovsky – Eugene Onegin

Sitting with her nurse, Filipyevna, in the garden of her country estate, Madame Larina overhears her daughters, Tatyana and Olga, singing a love song. She reminisces about her own courtship and marriage. When a group of peasants enter, celebrating the harvest in song and dance, Olga wants to join in, while Tatyana is absorbed in the world of romantic books.

Filipyevna announces two visitors: Olga's fiancé Lensky, a young poet, and his friend Eugene Onegin, visiting from St Petersburg. Tatyana is drawn to the new arrival, and as they walk in the gardens he tells her of his boredom in the country and his recent inheritance of a nearby estate.

In Tatyana’s room that night, she confesses her love to Filipyevna, before pouring out her feelings in a letter. She finishes writing as a shepherd’s pipe marks the dawn, and when Filipyevna returns, Tatyana convinces the nurse to have the letter delivered to Onegin.

A short while later, servant girls pick fruits and sing as Tatyana waits anxiously for Onegin’s arrival. He enters and explains, kindly, that he is unsuited to marriage and unworthy of her love, as well as suggesting she be less emotionally open in the future. As the voices of the servant girls are heard in the background, Tatyana is unable to reply.

A ball is being given in honour of Tatyana, whose name day it is. Onegin dances with her, but grows irritated by others’ gossip and with Lensky, who persuaded him to come. He decides to avenge himself by dancing and flirting with Olga. When Lensky confronts his fiancée she admonishes him for his jealousy, and agrees to dance with Onegin again by way of a punishment for his behaviour.

The elderly Monsieur Triquet sings some couplets in honour of Tatyana, after which the quarrel between Lensky and Onegin becomes more intense. Lensky renounces their friendship and challenges Onegin to a duel. Onegin unwillingly accepts, and Tatyana falls to the ground.

The next morning, Lensky waits for Onegin with his second, Zaretsky. When Onegin arrives with his manservant Guillot it is clear that neither wishes to go ahead with the duel, but neither has the courage to stop it. Onegin shoots Lensky dead.

Five years have passed, and Onegin, alone at a ball in St Petersburg, is still consumed by remorse. Tatyana enters, now the grand, aristocratic wife of Prince Gremin, and Onegin is immediately overwhelmed with passion, as is she when she recognises him. Gremin re-introduces the pair and Onegin determines to write to Tatyana and arrange a meeting.

Later, Tatyana has received Onegin’s letter, reawakening the passion she felt years before. Onegin enters and begs for her love, but while she confesses it, she insists that their time has passed. She bids him farewell and leaves him, denied, despairing, and alone.