The 1980s were turbulent times for the Soviet Union. The death of the Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev, in 1981, and the slow-slow-quick-quick-slow waltz of the regime toward its collapse and eventual dissolution in 1992. Years of expensive military spending to the detriment of domestic development eventually took its toll, and the Soviet Union collapsed back into the still gigantic territory of Russia.

These bare, macroscopic facts, whilst fascinating from a historical perspective, hide a myriad of personal stories: lives lived in poverty, starvation, or great wealth; loves made and loves lost; all of humanity was there and struggling under the great cosh of a once-powerful regime being forced to retrench.

And into this turmoil Opera North has plunged its newest creation: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's tale of coming of age, of unrequited love, of the devastating consequences of poor decision-making; the great opera that is the tale of an arrogant fool of a man, Eugene Onegin.

The time shift from the original 1870s to the 1980s allows set designer Leslie Travers and costume designer Elizabeth Gadsby to create an appropriately grungy factory interior and utilitarian clothing to match. The heroine of our story is Tatyana - played with considerable finesse by Verity Wingate - and she is the daughter of the owner of the factory. Tatyana is the sensible, bookish one of the family, and her sister Olga (Jingwen Cai) is flighty, flirty and in love with local poet Lensky (Caspar Singh). Eugene Onegin (John Brancy) is a friend of Lensky and is the source of all trouble.

Why Tchaikovsky chose to call this opera Eugene Onegin rather than Tatyana we will never know. When we first meet Tatyana, she is young and vulnerable. She falls hopelessly in love with the deeply cynical Eugene Onegin and writes a letter where she pours out her heart to him. Onegin rejects her, a life-changing decision is thereby made, and the die is cast for a tragic love story to unfold. But, to me at least, this opera is more about the serenity and stoicism of Tatyana than the arrogance and stupidity of Onegin.

The role of Tatyana is so central to this opera that its casting is of critical importance. And here Opera North has scored another victory with a graduate of the Dutch National Opera Studio, Verity Wingate. This was a delightfully nuanced performance from Ms Wingate combining, apparently effortlessly, her creamy smooth, luscious soprano voice with a subtlety of facial expressions that would be perfectly at home on the silver screen. The drama could so easily have become pantoesque but Verity Wingate, no doubt with skilled guidance from director Patrick Nolan, managed to find the narrow path between under and over acting, with the resulting drama being so persuasive, so compelling.

Verity Wingate, Caspar Singh, Jingwen Cai, Joshua Bloom as Prince Gremin and Florian Panzieri as Triquet are all making their Opera North debuts in this production and all are successful.

Tenor Casper Singh has the looks of a writer quietly starving in his Parisian garret – if that's not too strong a hint. He combines shyness with occasional confidence and is so vulnerable when his friend, Onegin, offends him. His fresh tenor tones were perfect for the somewhat diffident poet, Lensky.

The Chinese soprano Jingwen Cai has a range that takes her comfortably into mezzo-soprano territory. It seems strange that her lower-pitched voice should be used to play Olga, the flightier sister of Tatyana, but Tchaikovsky wrote the part for a contralto voice, so this was exactly as intended. And Ms Cai has a beautiful, powerful voice which combined so well with her obvious ability to act.

American John Brancy uses his daunting on-stage presence and a rich, resonant baritone voice to deliver a harrowing portrayal of our eponymous anti-hero, Eugene Onegin. The final scene between Onegin and Tatyana is as unmissable and heartbreaking as any you will find on the operatic stage, and both performers rose beautifully to the challenge.

Of course an opera by Tchaikovsky needs an excellent orchestra, and Garry Walker conducts a superb performance from both the musicians in the pit and the chorus above. There's a moment towards the end of act one (it only lasts for about 20 seconds), where Tatyana has completed and despatched her letter to Onegin and the morning sun is breaking through the windows of her factory. In this moment, the innocence and trepidation of Tatyana combine perfectly with the rich lyrical-scene style of Tchaikovsky to yield a sequence of great beauty. Thanks to the orchestra and the composer we can almost hear the sun rising and feel the anguish of young, inexperienced love.

What a wonderful production.


Eugine Onegin continues at:

Leeds Grand Theatre
Newcastle Theatre Royal
Lowry, Salford Quays
Theatre Royal, Nottingham

Total running time approx. 3 hours 10 minutes
Sung in Russian with English subtitles

More details can be found here.