BBC4 ROH Eugene Onegin relay

[Barbirollians]

The only people I know who went to it, left at the (first?) interval, intensely annoyed...

(Incidentally, even before BBC HD changed to BBC2 HD, we didn't systematically get BBC4 Friday night classical offerings in HD. Nothing's changed in that respect, I think, unless I have had a severe memory lapse... )

Gracious - I cannot imagine why anyone felt that strongly about it - it was hardly the terrible Tamerlano of a couple of years back .

[BBMmk2]

I still will watch it on iplayer. All good things do'nt seem to be advertised very much?

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

Her looks, of course, she can't help. But the producer should have encouraged and helped her to act young, and the audience's imagination should fill in the rest.

I suppose the director would respond that Stoyanova was never playing the 'young' Tatyana at all, but the older Princess Gremina looking back on events before her final confrontation with Yevgeny.* The question I would love to put to Kasper Holten, however, is how far was his decision to use flashback influenced by his 'more mature' pair of leads, who (I believe) were already cast when he took on the production.

[EDIT] * However, as another soprano pointed out to me last summer, the Tatyana of the final scene is not that much older than the Tatyana at the start of the opera. She's travelled in terms of location and social status, but only a couple of years elapse between Acts II and III.

[An_Inspector_Calls]

I enjoyed this. I thought the younger doubles worked most of the time (but I'd have liked wider stage shots to appreciate what was going on), and the older doubles acted very well. But not the most stunning EO I've seen, That will have to be the WNO performance. I also thought the sound was a little muffled (TV sound, ROH orch?); certainly we got none of that Tchaikovsky brass brilliance I remember from the WNO night.

[Mr Pee]

The only people I know who went to it, left at the (first?) interval, intensely annoyed...

(Incidentally, even before BBC HD changed to BBC2 HD, we didn't systematically get BBC4 Friday night classical offerings in HD. Nothing's changed in that respect, I think, unless I have had a severe memory lapse... )

You're right about the HD, Cali, I was often dissapointed that Proms and other musical offerings from the BBC were not shown on the HD channel, even as a late night repeat.

Personally, I cannot understand why anybody walks out of an Opera or Theatre performance before the end, however much they dislike it. If I've paid the money, I'll stay!!

[Barbirollians]

You're right about the HD, Cali, I was often dissapointed that Proms and other musical offerings from the BBC were not shown on the HD channel, even as a late night repeat.

Personally, I cannot understand why anybody walks out of an Opera or Theatre performance before the end, however much they dislike it. If I've paid the money, I'll stay!!

You obviously missed that Tamerlano - it was torture - an appalling production and poor Sara Mingardo was constantly placed on the stage in positions that made her rather small beautiful voice struggle .

[aeolium]

I suppose the director would respond that Stoyanova was never playing the 'young' Tatyana at all, but the older Princess Gremina looking back on events before her final confrontation with Yevgeny.* The question I would love to put to Kasper Holten, however, is how far was his decision to use flashback influenced by his 'more mature' pair of leads, who (I believe) were already cast when he took on the production.

[EDIT] * However, as another soprano pointed out to me last summer, the Tatyana of the final scene is not that much older than the Tatyana at the start of the opera. She's travelled in terms of location and social status, but only a couple of years elapse between Acts II and III.

But even as a concept, it was inconsistently applied. The younger double was present in the letter scene but not in the scene where Onegin rejects Tatiana where you would have thought that the director would have wanted to emphasise the rejection of the younger Tatiana and not the older Princess Gremina whom he comes to admire later in the opera! And as the soprano commented, there was not a great passage of years between Acts 2 and 3.

I thought it was an intensely exasperating production, hammering out visually ideas about memory and reflection which are in any case clear within the music (the way themes and motifs recur, particularly in the last act) and in so doing treating the audience as bereft of imagination.

(I didn't walk out, though - and I was only watching the live relay in a cinema)

[David-G]

Gracious - I cannot imagine why anyone felt that strongly about it - it was hardly the terrible Tamerlano of a couple of years back .

It was much worse! It is a very great but very delicate opera, and I found its systematic demolition very painful. In any case, I quite enjoyed Tamerlano. The main problem was that Covent Garden was much too big a theatre for it.

I suppose the director would respond that Stoyanova was never playing the 'young' Tatyana at all, but the older Princess Gremina looking back on events before her final confrontation with Yevgeny.* The question I would love to put to Kasper Holten, however, is how far was his decision to use flashback influenced by his 'more mature' pair of leads, who (I believe) were already cast when he took on the production.

I feel that this whole thing about Stoyanova’s age, which is not very flattering to her, has arisen because of Holten’s approach. Many a time I have seen an older singer perform a younger role very satisfactorily; but usually she would have been assisted by the director, rather than having her age emphasised by the director’s whims.

However, as another soprano pointed out to me last summer, the Tatyana of the final scene is not that much older than the Tatyana at the start of the opera. She's travelled in terms of location and social status, but only a couple of years elapse between Acts II and III.

Yes, that is absolutely right, and the supposed age difference is one of the big problems with Holten’s interpretation.

I thought it was an intensely exasperating production, hammering out visually ideas about memory and reflection which are in any case clear within the music (the way themes and motifs recur, particularly in the last act) and in so doing treating the audience as bereft of imagination.

Exactly. You have summed it up perfectly.

[Barbirollians]

It is the only production of the opera I have seen and I found the doppelgangers annoying and heavy handed - the music and the libretto tells us what Holten was underlining so heavily . The set also took so much space up that the chorus scenes lost impact.

On the other hand , the singing was largely excellent - Keenlyside is a good actor and although Stoyanova is perhaps a tad mature she sang well. The Lensky has a lovely voice but struck me as nearly as wooden as the branch he dragged on stage. The smaller roles were excellently cast and sung and I really liked the video backdrops .

[VodkaDilc]

Personally, I cannot understand why anybody walks out of an Opera or Theatre performance before the end, however much they dislike it. If I've paid the money, I'll stay!!

I remember seeing people leaving the theatre during the WNO Wozzeck in Oxford a couple of years ago. I wondered then why they should do it. Could there still be those who do not appreciate a musical idiom which is now over 80 years old? And if so, did they not know enough about the opera to avoid it in the first place?

I must confess that the only type of performance I have failed to see to completion are outdoor 'summer' productions. The temptation to move to a warm hostelry rather than return for a freezing last act has often proved very strong.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I was unable to watch the broadcast, but recorded it directly to a DVD. In view of the comments about the production, I have since listened to it with the TV switched off, and I thought the performance was sensational. Soon I hope to view it as well, but treating it audio only may well be a solution.

[aeolium]

I was unable to watch the broadcast, but recorded it directly to a DVD. In view of the comments about the production, I have since listened to it with the TV switched off, and I thought the performance was sensational. Soon I hope to view it as well, but treating it audio only may well be a solution.

You have definitely experienced the best of it, EA

[gradus]

I watched from the beginning - what an arresting piece of orchestral writing - to the end of the Letter Scene and thoroughly enjoyed it but having never seen a live production I have nothing against which to compare the production. I particularly liked the wondeful singing of the leading lady and thought the device of a young dancer very effective and moving. Must try and catch the rest if on iplayer.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I've now watched the first act. I must admit I don't see the shortcomings as perceived by some, but I'll reserve judgement until I've seen the rest.
The only Tchaikovsky opera I've seen in the opera house is The Queen of Spades - at Sadlers Wells in the late 1960s. That and The Maid of Orleans remain my favourites.