Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center – Dress Circle
(Seat C101, $73).
Choreography by John Cranko
Music by Peter Tchaikovsky, arranged and orchestrated by
Kurt-Heinz Stolze
Conductor – David LaMarche; Eugene Onegin – David Hallberg,
Lensky – Joseph Gorak, Tatiana – Hee Seo, Olga – Yuriko Kajiya, Madame Larina
their mother – Sarah Smith, Their nurse – Kelly Boyd, Prince Gremin – Roddy Doble.
Story. Lensky brings
his friend Onegin from St. Petersburg to visit the area since Onegin is bored
with the big city. Tatiana falls in love
with Onegin, writes him a love note, but Onegin rejects her and tears the note
up. As the provincial gentry come to
celebrate Tatiana’s birthday, Onegin flirts with Lensky’s fiancé Olga which
causes Lensky to challenge him to a duel, at which Lensky is killed. Onegin continues with his search for meaning,
when he returns to St. Petersburg and is honored at a ball host by Prince
Gremin, Onegin finds to his surprise that he is actually in love with
Tatiana. He writes Tatiana a love
letter, but is rejected by Tatiana the same way he rejected her years ago: with
the love note torn up.
We saw the opera quite a few years ago, also at the Met
Opera House, by a Russian group (I think it is actually from St. Petersburg,
but not sure.) I don’t remember much of
the music, or the story, or how well it was done, except that the sets were
quite Spartan, with a white piece of cloth serving as the river where the duel
took place. Today’s sets were a great
improvement over that, although they would not be what one would call
elaborate, with the possible exception of the third act where the ballroom had
three huge chandeliers. The costumes
were also quite well designed. Not
overtly Russian, but do evoke images of the countryside.
I suspect the score arranger did a lot to Tchaikovsky’s original
score for the ballet. I wouldn’t even
have guessed it was written by Tchaikovsky without my prior knowledge. The melodies sounded nice enough, but the saccharine
music mostly served the choreography and probably won’t stand up well on its own. The choreography when not predictable is
confusing. Most of the pas de deux (what’s
the plural form?) and the one pas de trois are quite disjoint. Remember my earlier remark about the music as
being inadequate? I actually felt it was
wasted when Olga and Lensky had their pas de deux. I find the dream of Tatiana particularly
disappointing: it is a series of jerky movements with a muddled message. When I make this remark to Anne, she said I
just don’t understand what romantic means.
On the other hand, there are some moments that are quite well
done. The group dances look very nice
with well-coordinated movements; some, such as the leaps by the females dances
while running, are quite difficult. And
I have never seen someone go backwards on point the entire width of the stage,
as Tatiana did when rejected by Onegin.
When Onegin first came on the stage, he had this haughty
look about him that eventually gave way to a more subdued stance, even though
he didn’t slump as I predicted he would.
His blonde hair actually got a bit darker as he turned gray – not sure
if that happens in real life. Both
Tatiana and Olga were played by Asian dancers, probably a first at ABT, and
they acquitted themselves very well, garnering enthusiastic applause at curtain
call.
The New York Times reviewer saw a different cast. While he manages to find good things to say
about the dancers, he certainly shares my same discomfort with the music and
the choreography. He points out the
score has other Tchaikovsky’s works interwoven into it. Actually the one tune (a waltz) Anne remember
from the opera isn’t in the ballet score at all.
Despite all my misgivings, the story still came
through. That may speak to the original
creative power of the original artists (the story is based on a poem by
Pushkin), or the simple fact that regret is such a common emotion.
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