Calgary Opera embraces tchaikovsky’s moving story of heartache and loss
Director Diamond’s production embraces ‘Russian soul’ of Tchaikovsky’s epic opera
CALGARY OPERA’S EUGENE ONEGIN Where: Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
When: Feb. 3, 7 and 9 Tickets: Starting at $31, www.calgaryopera.com/17-18/eugene-onegin, 403-262-7286 On the first day of rehearsals for Calgary Opera’s production of Eugene Onegin, director Tom Diamond told the story of working with a Russian tenor in a previous production of Tchaikovsky’s classic epic.
The singer, whose work in Germany had included numerous runs of Onegin, was playing the doomed Lensky in this particular production and showed some low-key Russian gratitude that Diamond was directing the opera based on “what Tchaikovsky put on page,” rather than subject it to some wild, modernized vision.
Apparently, this wasn’ t true of all the singer’s experiences with the epic opera, set in early 19th-century St. Petersburg and based on the famous verse poem by Alexander
Pushkin. Diamond says the singer told him that one German director had instructed him to “take off space helmet before you sing aria.”
“We’re not going there,” says Diamond. “My question is, when was the last time Calgary audiences saw this great opera? Many years? So just tell this great story. Just get out of the way and tell this great story.”
This is notable because Eugene Onegin has proven to be rather pliable as of late.
Onegin, a contemporary retelling based on Tchaikovsky’s opera with new music, lyrics and book by Veda Hille and Amiel Gladstone, received praise after being featured at Calgary’s High Performance Rodeo in January. At the end of 2017, the U.K.’s OperaUpClose rebooted Eugene Onegin as an English-language musical set in 1960s suburban London.
But Diamond was hired by Calgary Opera specifically to launch a traditional take on the three-hour, three-act epic, which opens Feb. 3 at the southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. This requires performing it in its original language amid lavish sets and costumes. It’s all part of staying true to what Diamond calls its “Russian soul.” Yes, despite those famous ly soaring arias, it could be argued that Eugene Onegin is a touch melancholic. But one of the reasons it’s proven so popular and adaptable may be its universal themes. It tells the story of the titular selfish aristocrat ( baritone Phillip Addis), who rebuffs the love of beautiful Ciekiewicz) Tatyana and chooses (soprano instead Lara to flirt with Olga (mezzo-soprano Lauren Segal). She is the fiancée of his friend Lensky (tenor Adam Luther), so the flirting leads to a tragic duel between the two men. Years later, Onegin realizes that he has discovered his love for Tatyana too late. “No one writes about heartache, about loss, better than the Russians do,” says Diamond. “It’s that deep ache of regret and missed opportunity. That’s what this is all about.” But getting out of the way of Pushkin and Tchaikovsky’s desolate tale does mean it’s a herculean effort to launch Eugene Onegin, particularly when aiming to authentically capture its scale and scope. “The biggest challenge, technically for me, has been with the language,” says Addis, an Ontario tenor last seen in Calgary as Marcello in a 2012 production of La Bohème. “I’ve sung in Russian be- fore and I like to sing in Russian, it’s a very singable language. But because I don’t speak Russian, I’ve had to do that really detailed work, knowing not only the meaning of every word and pronunciation, but even double meanings, to really be able to infuse it with the full sense of the text, which is one of the great works of Russian literature. You don’t want to shortchange it by just singing phonetically, you really want to go deep. For me, that’s been the big mountain to climb.”
As with Addis, this is the first time Lara Ciekiewicz has tackled the challenges of Eugene Onegin. She had very limited experience singing in Russian, which meant she had a similar mountain to climb. But the role of Tatyana also has special meaning for the Winnipeg performer. The last time the opera was mounted in Calgary was in 1996, when the role was sung by renowned soprano Joanne Kolomyjec. She was Ciekiewicz’s vocal instructor at McGill University.
“It was one of her signature roles ,” Ciekiewicz says .“So it’ s very special to be taking on one of her roles, and to have had the opportunity to coach with her and learn from her and reconnect from her has been really, really amazing for both of us.”
But while preparations may have been daunting for its principal cast, Addis says opera newbies in the audience shouldn’t feel intimidated by Eugene Onegin. Yes, it’s three hours long and it’s in Russian, although, as usual, there will be projected subtitles to translate for the audience at the Jubilee Auditorium.
But it’s also accessible, thanks in no small part to Tchaikovsky’s moving music, which transcends all barriers of language and length when it comes to appreciating Eugene Onegin, he says.
“It’s such a lush score,” Addis says. “The music is so directly connected to the emotions being expressed. The way he sets the text to music is so honest and has all the right rhythm and cadence to the language. Even if you don’t understand a word of it, you’re taken on this emotional ride that is completely in step with what we’re playing. I think Romantic opera in general, but particularly Tchaikovsky, is really a great way for people to explore opera.”
“If people come to the theatre and don’t read the synopsis, and look at this production and don’t know what’ s going on, I will change careers and become a dentist,” adds Diamond.
Eugene Onegin plays Feb. 3, Feb. 7 and Feb. 9 at the southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium.