Recorded live at De Nederlandse Opera, June & July, 2011

Described by Tchaikovsky as ‘lyric scenes’, Eugene Onegin receives a spectacular reinterpretation from the Norwegian director Stefan Herheim. His productions create controversy and excitement around Europe, and here he takes Pushkin’s story of illusion, disaffection and frustrated love, and places the protagonists – world-weary Onegin and na¨ve, passionate Tatyana – in a triple temporal perspective, referencing the theatrical present, the period of the work’s composition, and the pageant of Russia’s history. Mariss Jansons, renowned for his mastery of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies, conducts this performance from Amsterdam’s Muziektheater.
‘Put too much steam into Tchaikovsky’s score and it wilts. Be too shy and retiring, on the other hand, and the tragic momentum evaporates. Jansons sets us on a simmer and gradually turns the heat to boiling. It is magisterially paced, stunningly played and, seemingly effortlessly, Jansons captures every aching nuance. […] Herheim’s innovations are often throbbingly acute (and sometimes wickedly funny).’ The Times

Extra features:

Cast gallery

30-Minute Documentary Film

Region Code All regions

Picture format 16:9 Anamorphic

Sound format 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS

Menu languages EN

Subtitles EN/FR/DE/IT/ES

“Herheim sees the opera as a representation of memories...I suspect that this would be impossible to follow if you didn't know the opera beforehand...it's hard not to get caught up in the sheer chutzpah of the production...[Stoyanova] sails through the Letter Scene with plenty of fire...Star of the evening is the conductor Mariss Jansons. It's clear from the documentary that he loves the work..and he plays it with a rhythmic vitality” International Record Review