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ROHM to present Tchaikovsky’s opera, Eugene Onegin

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The late nineteenth-century composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is celebrated for his operas as well as his symphonies, concertos and ballets scores. He is perhaps best loved for his ballet music which includes the enduring favourites — Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. Among the eleven operas composed by Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin (1879) is arguably the most popular today and is frequently performed in the great opera houses of the world. It is a beautiful lyric opera in the Romantic tradition with unforgettable melodies and heart-rending drama.


The story is based on a novel in verse by the famous Russian poet, playwright and novelist, Alexander Pushkin. The joyous beauties of nature in the Russian countryside where Pushkin grew up, along with an excellent family library and vivid literary conversation in the aristocratic circles of the day were elements in forging the soul of a sensitive young poet. Pushkin eventually became the leader of the Russian Romantic Movement. He wrote a series of narrative poems, featuring exotic settings and tragic romantic encounters. Among these works is the famous Fountain of Bakhchisaray written from 1821 to1823, a beautiful piece which was performed as a ballet at the ROHM last season.


It was during this period in the early 1820s that Pushkin began to write Eugene Onegin, with its dazzling, insightful portrait of a world-weary young nobleman who carelessly throws away his first chance for happiness when the lovely young Tatyana falls madly in love with him. Tatyana naively pours out her feelings in a heartfelt letter to the dashing and sophisticated young man. Onegin’s reply is crushing as he curtly dismisses Tatyana’s love and warns her not to be so open with her feelings. Later Onegin flirts outrageously with Tatyana’s sister and is challenged to a duel by her fiancé who is Onegin’s close friend. Onegin shoots his friend dead and a painful life of regret begins.


Set within the context of Russian social and intellectual life in the 1820s, the story speaks not only of the passion and purity of the soul, but also of betrayal in friendship and the vagaries of love. A dazzlingly expressive novel, Eugene Onegin is considered the crowning achievement of Pushkin’s early verse and has gained more renown through Tchaikovsky’s opera.


Eugene Onegin is performed by one of Russia’s greatest theatres, the Moscow State Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre in the heart of the city near Pushkin Square. Dating from 1918, the theatre will soon be a century old. While presenting many classic operas and traditional Russian ballets, the theatre is known for being bold and experimental. The Company was enthusiastically received during world tours to Japan, France, Hungary, Portugal, Yugoslavia, Latin America, Greece, Italy, and Finland. The Moscow State Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre is invariably nominated for the annual Russian national theatre premium Golden Mask and in 2013 was nominated for London’s International Opera Award for Best Opera Theatre.


The Royal Opera House Muscat presents Tchaikovsky’s great lyric opera, Eugene Onegin on Thursday 19 and Saturday 21, January 2017 at 7 pm. For further information and booking consult the ROHM website — www.rohmuscat.org.om


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