Onegin

Starring:Ralph Fiennes, Liv Tyler, Toby Stephens, Lena Headey, Martin Donovan (II), Alun Armstrong, Harriet Walter, Irene Worth, Jason Watkins, Francesca Annis, Simon McBurney, Geoffrey McGivern, Gwenllian Davies, Margery Withers, Tim McMullan, Tim Potter (II), Elizabeth Berrington, Ian East, Richard Bremmer, Chloe Elise Hanslip
Director: Martha Fiennes
Studio: Lions Gate
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Given that for Russians, Pushkin's poem Eugene Onegin is sort of like Hamlet, Beowulf, and Lord Byron's Don Juan rolled into one melancholy tale of lost love and ennui among the gentry, it's surprising Russian filmmakers have balked at adapting the film. Having taken a stage production of Hamlet to Russia where it was rapturously received, self-confessed Slavophile actor Ralph Fiennes must have thought he was making reparation when he executive-produced and starred in this faithful adaptation of the film. With Martha Fiennes on board as director, it's something of a family affair with more than a little of the solemnity one often discovers in "personal projects". Pushkin's romanticism comes across amply, but little of his ferocious wit or, inevitably, the authorial voice that makes the poem so compelling, even in translation. Ralph Fiennes typecasts himself in the title role: his Onegin is yet another of the actor's wintry, haunted lovers in period dress (this time early 19th century). The character, a jaded roué from St. Petersburg, summers in the countryside where he inadvertently wins the heart of the impulsive Tatyana (Liv Tyler, the girl they book when Gwyneth Paltrow's busy). Onegin's casual attitude to her love leads to a tragic duel (magnificently tense and perfectly staged), and years later a chance meeting stirs up feelings of regret, triumph, and moral queasiness. Tears well in eyes, letters are sent and read, furs are ruffled in the snow. This is the highbrow end of costume drama: patrician in its literary purity, and rather admirable in its restraint and good taste, if a little dull. --Leslie Felperin

Customer Reviews:

Pursuing what is unavailable.......2007-05-27

A modern day psychologist would sum up Evgeny Onegin's problem very simply: he pursues someone only when they are unavailable and lives to regret it. ONEGIN is a rather fine and lush and particularly correct adaptation of the Russian verse EVGENY ONEGIN (On-YA-gin) by Aleksandr Pushkin. Philandering playboy Evgeny Onegin, a rather bored aristocrat of St.Petersburg high society (Ralph Fiennes), inherits his uncle's country estate. He is amused at the provincial ways of the country folk and befriends a neighbor,Vladimir Lenski (Toby Stepehens).Through Lenski, Onegin is introduced to the aristocracy of the manor born class.A sister to Lenski's fiancee,Tatyana, (Liv Tyler) becomes enamoured with Onegin and risks everything by expressing her deep love for him.Onegin dismisses Tatyana's profession of love as silliness and breaks her heart.Onegin meanwhile has set his sights on Lenski's fiancee.Lenski defends her honour and is killed in a duel with Evgeny.We are pushed forward six years where Tatyana, now married to a Hussard soldier and integrated into Petersburg society, is spied at a party by Evgeny. He now has become entranced with the unavailable Tatyana and professes his love and she sadly informs him that he is too late and that she will honour her marriage vows.

Martha Fiennes has done a rather admirable job at capturing the times and the attitudes of 18th-century aristocratic Russia.From the lavish parties to a magnificently staged duel,Ms. Fiennes uses wonderful technique in assembling a beautifully scripted,acted and filmed movie that is very pleasing to the senses and very true to the time. Attention is paid to minute details in fully realizing this Russian masterpiece.Frankly, I am glad that this screenplay was adapted and shortened for viewing. Having seen the staged opera by Tchaikowsky, I found Martha Fiennes' rendition very accesible and quite enjoyable. It cut far more to the quick without destroying the necessary.

I would worship at The Temple of Ralph Fiennes.......2007-05-22

Yes, yes...amazing. Anything which would feature Ralph Fiennes overacting and making such faces...at the skating rink, the dual, the dance and in the carriage. Let's give Martha only projects which feature her eldest bro giving it his all.

What the heck?.......2007-05-21

So when does a movie stop in the middle and leave you with no closure? When you watch Onegin! It's really slow at the get go and then when you think the movie it finally going to pick up and get good it stops! And stops with no real conclusion as to what's going to happen to all involved! I did not like this movie one bit! I was highly disappointed and would recommend that people see anything else.

Beautiful story of unfullfilled love.......2007-05-20

The acting was very good with Ralph Fiennes hiding his emotional needs from the other charcters as well as himself, thereby destroying his potential happiness. Great sets, and atmosphere of period Russia. I enjoyed it immensely.

Intriguing.......2007-05-18

Russian literature has always been too complicated and epic for my taste. I bought this as a devoted Toby Stephens fan. After viewing the film, I was amazed to find out the story was originally in verse form. I fully intend to read Pushkin, in English of course. Ralph Fiennes as Onegin is tremendous as a jaded, cynical and tortured soul. Liv Tyler is breathtaking as Tatyana and Toby Stephens is delicious as Vladimir. All three live their roles taking the persona of the charactors they portray. This is definitely a keeper for me.

Eugene Onegin: The Classic Motion Picture With The Bolshoi Opera

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Eugene Onegin: The Classic Motion Picture With The Bolshoi Opera
Starring: Tchaikovsky , and Bolshoi Ballet
Manufacturer: KULTUR VIDEO
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Queen of Spades: The Classic Motion Picture With The Bolshoi Opera
Alexander Borodin - Prince Igor, The Classic Motion Picture with The Kirov Opera
Rimsky-Korsakov - The Tsar's Bride: The Classic Motion Picture With The Bolshoi Opera
Prokofiev - Ivan the Terrible, The Classic Motion Picture with The Bolshoi Ballet / Natalia Bessmertnova, Yuri Grigorovich
R. Strauss - Salome

ASIN: B000RO6K2G
Release Date: 2007-08-28

Product Description

No way to describe it except as a triumph.
San Francisco Chronicle

As artistic a film as it is an opera.
New York Times

This beautiful motion picture of Peter Tchaikovsky s endearing opera is now available to enjoy on DVD for the first time. Using the sights and sounds of old St. Petersburg, director Roman Tikhomirov opened up the opera and filmed it in the Russian countryside, using actors, singers and musicians from the Bolshoi Theatre and Opera.

CAST
Tatiana: Ariadna Shengelaya (Sung by Galina Vishnevskaya)
Onegin: Vadim Medvedev (Sung by Yevgeni Kibkalo)
Olga: Svetlana Nemoliayeva (Sung by Larisa Avdeyeva)
Lensky: Igor Ozerov (Sung by Anton Grigoriev)
Gremin: Ivan Petrov (Sung by Ivan Petrov)

CREDITS
Director Roman Tikhomirov
creenplay by Alexander Ivanovsky and Roman Tikhomirov
Based on the Poem by Alexander Pushkin
Music Peter Tchaikovsky
hotography by Yevgeny Shapiro
Sets by Nikolai Suvorov
Conductor: Boris Khaikin
With Soloists, Chorus, Corps de Ballet and Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre

Description

This Soviet production filmed live at the Kirov conveys the full beauty of Tchaikovsky's vision. It is a poetically tender work which was confirmed by Tchaikovsky himself in 1878 when he said "I played the whole of Eugene Onegin, the author was the sole listener, the listener was moved to tears." Eugene Onegin is Tchaikovsky's most lyrical operatic work. While composing it, he wrote he was filled with "indescribable pleasure and enthusiasm." The opera is based on Pushkin's novel in verse and was first produced in Moscow on March 29, 1879. Featuring Sergei Leyferkus as Onegin, Yuri Marusin, Tatiana Novikova, Larissa Dyadkova

Customer Reviews:

entrancing!.......2006-11-17

I can say that I delight in operatic sublety from Tchaikovsky
compared to say Wagner's adorable bombast. "Onegin" is an example of
what I call great music drama: good story plus superb music. After all,
beauty, fortunately, is subjective (pardon the cliche)--this cd is
for all opera lovers...

Musical gem of a performace.......2006-01-05

This perfomance of Onegin is one of the most musical I have seen over the past 30 years. I do remember great performances at the Metropolitan opera with Zylis-Gara and Gedda and a great performance by the Bolshoi when they first came to the Met about 30 years ago. The beauty of this performance however is the total perfection of ensemble staging, singing, acting and conducting all within beautiful sets. The individual singers have excellent techniques, unforced beautiful voices and a true feeling for the nuances of the opera which is conducted to perfection by an unlisted conductor who projects his great love and appreciation of the score. The performers are ideally cast and are embodiments of their roles. However, it is the high quality of the singing and interpretations of every singer that make this such a satisfactory performance. Of course honors go to the beautiful Tatanya whose transformation from the innocent young girl of the letter scene to the mature torn woman of the final scene is reflected in her voice and acting. The same can be said for the Onegin whose arrogance at the beginning to the defeated and tragic figure of the final scene moves the opera to its inevitable conclusion. The Lensky sings and acts the role of the young poet with an inner passion that illuminates the unfolding tragedy;the famous aria is movingly delivered. One is struck by the high quality of artistry of the other members of cast--There is not a wobbly or strained voice. The sets are traditional and beautiful reflecting the lyricism of the text and opera. Unfortunately the modern settings and stagings of Onegin at the Metropolitan and Kirov are not of the same caliber as this performance--in fact they are to be avoided. The only complaint that I have is that this is a 1984 taped live performance, and the technology is not up to 2006 standards--However, the innate beauty of every aspect of this production overides any technical limitations. Onegin is captured as the composer may have envisioned it in his mind as he wrote this glorious music. A gold standard has been set by this performance.

Wonderful performance.......2005-08-04

This DVD is the best "Onegin" performance which I saw. Voices, costumes and style are really very very good. I just sang Tatiana last month and this DVD helped me in preparation a lot. All me american partners really like it. I hope you will enjoy it too.

Superb performance.......2005-07-07

This 1984 performance of "Eugene Onegin" from the Kirov is just marvelous. When they're on their game, nobody performs Russian opera like the Russians, and this performance has the sense of a real occasion.

It's hard to know where to begin the praise - the voices, characterization, sets - they are all terrific. All four main singers are young, good looking, have excellent stage presence, inhabit their characters superbly and are in fine voice. The drama is very real here, with everyone inside their role, even the smaller parts. There is not a wobbly voice in the bunch. None of the old fashioned, curdly-voiced female singers that use to inhabit Russian performances too often. Sergei Leiferkus is a poised, dark Onegin, even gaining one's sympathy at the end. Tatiana Novikova has a lovely, lyrical soprano and is a radiant Tatiana, totally believable as both the young ingenue and later Gremin's wife. Larissa Dyadkova is joyous and outgoing without going overboard as Olga, and Yuri Marusin is impassioned as the tortured Lensky. Prince Gremin's famous love aria in Act 3, sung by Nikolai Okhotnikov, is so poignantly done it practically brings down the house.

The staging is traditionally, as best befits the opera, with lovely costumes and beautiful, evocative sets that would be hard to match. Glorious! Unlike the first two Amazon reviewers of this video, I thought the picture and sound were just fine. In fact, the balance between voices and orchestra was a model of clarity, with both being well projected and easy to hear. The conducting of Yuri Temirkanov (who is not mentioned in Kultur's DVD presentation) is quite broad and very poignant, yet he has all the requisite drama and fire when called for. Temirkanov is particularly good in transitions from lyrical to dramatic subjects. The Kirov Orchestra is very fine, with special kudos to the first horn.

Chorus and dancers must also receive special praise. Good Russian choruses have a special ring to them that is so right for this music, and the dancing (this is, after all, the Kirov!) is a joy. Among the few mostly insignificant caveats are some excess audience coughing, some minor picture flutter in distance shots, and a tendency to film too much of the dancing from too far away. Nothing to get remotely in a boil about. This DVD has classic status written all over it. An easy 5 stars.

Best Quality; Strongly Recomend.......2005-07-06

This version of Eugene Onegin is excellent! I watched this movie with the score and know this opera extreamly well and it's all there. If you are a muscian like myself you should appreciate how the conductor is so brilliant with the music. Has English subtitals with good translation but are not removable, the sound quality is great, the sets are beautiful, and the singers sing very well and even act! Also the looks of these performers truely reflect the story's character's personalaties. The performance was perfact. I could feel the characters situations, Tatiana's anguish, Onegin being misjudged by socity and his change through the story relly portrayed, Olga's playfulness, and Lensky's passonate heart of a poet. Also Nyanya being old while Russian tradition changing acted so appropriately. I am moved every time I watch this film. An excellent edition!

Opera Highlights Vol. II - Ariodante, Billy Budd, The Fiery Angel, Xerxes, Peter Grimes, Cunning Little Vixen, Giulio Cesare, Eugene Onegin, Ruslan and Lyudmlla

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Opera Highlights Vol. II - Ariodante, Billy Budd, The Fiery Angel, Xerxes, Peter Grimes, Cunning Little Vixen, Giulio Cesare, Eugene Onegin, Ruslan and Lyudmlla
Starring: Anna Netrebko , Galina Gorchakova , Philip Langridge , Thomas Allen , and Ann Murray
Manufacturer: Arthaus Musik
ProductGroup: DVD
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Mozart - Le Nozze di Figaro
Donizetti - L'Elisir d'Amore / Eschwe, Netrebko, Villazon, Wiener Staatsoper
The Berlin Concert - Live from Waldbuhne
Leoncavallo - Pagliacci
Glinka - Ruslan and Lyudmila / Gergiev, Netrebko, Ognovenko, Gorchakova, Diadkova, Bezzubenkov, Kirov Opera, St. Petersburg

ASIN: B000PA9NXA
Release Date: 2007-06-26

Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Gavrilova, Redkin, Baskov, Novak, Martirosyan, Udalova, Arkhipov, Ermler, Moscow

Average customer rating:

terrific but the sound...
Solid but not thrilling performance
Thoroughly Enjoyable
Very fine with caveats
A Traditional 'Onegin' with Russian Singers

Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Gavrilova, Redkin, Baskov, Novak, Martirosyan, Udalova, Arkhipov, Ermler, Moscow
Starring: Maria Gavrilova , Yelena Novak , Vladimir Redkin , Nikolay Baskov , and Mark Ermler
Manufacturer: Tdk DVD Video
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Eugene Onegin
Rimsky-Korsakov - Sadko / Vladimir Galouzine, Gegam Grigorian, Sergei Alexashkin, Larissa Diadkova, Nikolai Putilin, Valery Gergiev, Kirov Opera
Bizet - Les Pecheurs de Perles / Massis, Grassi, Nakajima, De Donato, Viotti, Venice Opera
Leoncavallo - I Pagliacci / Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana / Domingo, Stratas, Pons, Bruson, Obraztsova, Pretre
Tchaikovsky - Mazeppa / Putilin, Aleksashkin, Diadkova, Loskutova, Lutsiuk, Gergiev, Kirov Opera

ASIN: B0007ORE1W
Release Date: 2005-03-29

Customer Reviews:

terrific but the sound..........2007-03-08

This is very good version, better than others I've ever seen on DVD, but the sound is a bit poor...Especially when the choruses of peaseants appear. Lensky is remarkable...His voice could be compared to Lemeshev or Koslovsky. Onieguin is powerful. Tatiana is not the best singer and Olga is just good. Nevertheless this version is better than others (e.g. Solti) where the sound is better but the Ermler version remains better.

Martin Pitchon

Solid but not thrilling performance.......2005-06-19

Eugene Onegin is one of my favorite operas, but unfortunately there arent many available videos of this romantic, moving work. I had hoped this Bolshoi performance would be the definitive video, but while it has its moments it for me lacked that extra spark. It's a solid performance, but not a good one.
The production itself is very old-fashioned, and I mean that in a good way. I think Eugene Onegin is one of those operas that doesnt work "updated" -- it needs the backdrop of 19th century gentility to make sense. The heart of any Onegin, I think, is not the title character, but rather the heroine Tatyana. Maria Gavrilova is the Tatyana of this performance. She looks rather matronly and thus strains credibility as the young, naive heroine. Her voice isn't bad, but it has a heavy vibrato and a rather dark sound that doesnt really "sound" right for Tatyana. I like my Tatyanas to sound more girlish and radiant. Vladmir Redkin has a handsome enough voice, but he is a stiff and priggish Onegin -- again, not an invalid way to play the character, but you wonder why he's such a hit with all the ladies. For me, Onegin has to also have a kind of sullen sex appeal and charisma. Nikolai Baskov has a rather irritating, whiny voice that makes Lenski even more wimpy than he usually is.
Dont get me wrong -- this is not a bad performance. I do feel however that the principals (especially Tatyana) are a bit miscast, and that the performance never really catches fire.

Thoroughly Enjoyable.......2005-05-20

A very fine performance of a wonderful opera. I agree that the sound could have been more consistent, there are occasions where the voices seem to fade out. The sets and costumes are teriffic. Redkin does come off as stiff and aloof at first, one does wonder why Tatyana fell in love with him. But he becomes more human as the story unfolds. Gavrilova's voice takes a little time to unfold but her performance in the letter scene could not have been better. I had to repeat the entire scene (one of the nice things about DVD). Baskov, like Redkin, is a little stiff in the openiing scene and, throughout, it sounds to my ears that, on occasion, some of his notes are not on pitch. By the scene at the ball, though, he is in excellent form, vocal and dramatic, he and Redkin are chilling during their falling out. I'm always puzzled a bit during this scene. It revolves around Lensky and Onegin vis-a-vis Olga and yet Olga is mostly unseen and unheard. What was she thinking when she realizes that what she thought was harmless flirting with Onegin has brought about the chilling remarks of Lensky about Onegin, his closet friend and his damnation of his former love, Olga. The only reaction we see is that of Tatyana.

Very fine with caveats.......2005-04-29

I agree mostly with J. Scott Morrison's review of this disc, having seen it yesterday and the experience is still fresh. My biggest complaint would have to do with the sound. I do not have surround sound and after watching much of the first disc in stereo,with frustrating dry sound and odd balances, I switched to the digital mix which seemed a bit better, but there are odd balances and problems; aurally, it is not consistently fine, maybe the russian sound engineers do not have the best equipment or expertise. The production is beautiful, gamely realistic and lush, both in sets and costumes. The voices are fine, although I wished for a Tatyana with a more "girlish" tone quality: her early scenes with that big lush vibrato laden sound work against her good acting and visual picture, although it seems more appropriate in the later scenes. (I still remember Teresa Zylis-Gara at the Met in this role in the late 70's-SHE pulled off the visual and voice quality, and musicality, to perfection.) On the whole, the other singers are fine in their roles, although I wonder if the Bolshoi is engaging the finest russian singers these days - I think that the Maryansky and Gergiev are displaying the finest, most international-quality voices in russian repertoire, and doing a fantastic job of recording and releasing on dvd their wonderful treasures. I will await THEIR release of this opera eagerly, and I think that the Bolshoi may be bettered. I also liked very much the other "Eugene Onegin" on dvd, which had largely unknown singers and a much sparer production, but the singing was almost as fine or more so (I should review it again for comparison). Therefore I can't really go all the way in giving this unqualified praise, though it gives about as accurate picture of what is going on at the Bolshoi these days as we are likely to get. The audience's near hysterical reaction at the end of almost all the major scenes or arias must have been gratifying to the performers, but I did'nt always share the extent of their enthusiasm. The prospective investor in the perfect dvd "Onegin" experience should wait until the Kirov version is released; then maybe we can put all three (four, if you count the visually beautiful but lip-synched version from the Solti recording) in better perspective.

A Traditional 'Onegin' with Russian Singers.......2005-04-03

This 2 DVD set is from a 2000 production at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. It reproduces a legendary production by Boris Pokrovsky from the same theater done in 1944. The sets and costumes are new but based on those of the historic production. It is entirely naturalistic - none of that awkward (and sometimes grotesque) updating so popular in European productions these days - and is a gorgeous mounting. It is led by one of the most-respected Russian conductors, Mark Ermler. The only concern I might have, reviewing it as I am doing in early April 2005, is the knowledge that another DVD of 'Onegin' from Russia, from the Kirov Theater in St. Petersburg, with better-known singers and with conductor Yuri Temirkanov, is due for release in a month's time. Obviously I haven't seen that one and cannot make a comparison. Nonetheless, I am quite satisfied with this version. It is true to both Tchaikovsky's and Pushkin's vision. I have loved Pushkin's verse novel for forty years, and Tchaikovsky's opera for nearly that long. Considering the length and complexity of Pushkin's book, it is a marvel of concision that Tchaikovsky (and his fellow librettist, his brother Modest) wrought. These seven 'lyrical scenes' convey the thrust of Pushkin's novel effectively, and the music is among the loveliest for any opera.

The singers are quite fine. Maria Gavrilova, as Tatyana, takes a little while to warm up, but by the Letter Scene she is in wonderful form. And she gets better as the opera proceeds. Her growth from bookish, romance-besotted girl to married Princess in Act III is convincingly portrayed. Vladimir Redkin as Onegin has a fine voice and an effective stage presence. I just wish he had a bit more charisma; that would make Tatyana's falling in love with him at first sight a bit more believable. However, his gentle, but somewhat condescending, rebuff of Tatyana in Act I is nicely done, and by Act III his contrition and heartbreak are convincing. Mezzo Yelena Novak makes a good Olga although her girlishness is a bit overdone. The voice, though, is lush. Nikolai Baskov's Lensky is a bit of a simp, but then that's actually true to Pushkin's characterization and Tchaikovsky underlines that with Lensky's famous 'Ya lyublyu vas' in Act I, setting its conventional poetry to pedestrian music, a touch of Pushkinian irony. Baskov ('Kuda, kuda') is touching in the duel scene. And in that scene we are treated to the glorious bass voice of Alexander Korotky as Zaretsky, Onegin's second. Finally, in Act III, Tatyana's husband Prince Gremin is touchingly (and stunningly) sung by bass Aik Martirosyan; his aria about how much he loves his wife brings a lump to one's throat.

The Bolshoi audience gave enthusiastic applause for the scenery of the ball scene of Act II, and again to the ballroom in Scene I of Act III, and rightly so. They were beautiful and complimented by the costumes of the women in elegant gowns and the men in handsome military uniforms.

All in all, this is a wonderful production. Sound is a little muffled in Scene I, but gets much better and is quite fine for the rest of the opera. Ermler conducts effectively and aside from an occasional ensemble problem, the orchestra is excellent. The principal horn, who gets quite a workout through the entire opera, must be singled out as exceptional.

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1, or LPCM Stereo. Subtitles in English, Italian, French, German, Spanish. Running time: 157 minutes.

Scott Morrison

[This review is dedicated to the memory of Bob Zeidler who passed away today. He was a fellow Amazon reviewer who had become a dear friend.]

Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Prokina, Drabowicz, Thompson, Winter, Minton, Olsen, Davis, Glyndebourne Opera

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Tchaikovsky's 'lyric scenes' without an Onegin
Tchaikovsky would be pleased

Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Prokina, Drabowicz, Thompson, Winter, Minton, Olsen, Davis, Glyndebourne Opera
Starring: Wojciech Drabowicz , and Elena Prokina
Manufacturer: Kultur Video
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Prokofiev - Betrothal in a Monastery / Netrebko, Diadkova, Alexashkin, Akimov, Gergalov, Gassiev, Sokolova, Gergiev, Kirov Opera
Tchaikovsky - The Maid of Orleans / Rautio, Kulko, Gavrilowa, Gluboky, Krutikov, Mikhajlov, Mishenkin, Nikolsky, Pochapsky, Redkin, Lazarev, Bolshoi Opera
Tchaikovsky - Pique Dame (Queen of Spades) / Atlantov, Obraztsova, Milashkina, Mazurok, Grigoryev, Shemchuk, Simonov, Bolshoi Opera
Mussorgsky - Khovanshchina / Nesterenko, Vedernikov, Arkhipova, Simonov, Bolshoi Opera
Mozart - Die Entfuhring aus dem Serail / Nielsen, Watson, van der Walt, Magnusson, Moll, Tobias, Solti, Covent Garden Opera

ASIN: B000BB1MEG
Release Date: 2005-10-25

Description

Graham Vick's acclaimed production of Eugene Onegin sets Pushkin's tale of doomed love, tragedy and rejection against an acutely observed backdrop of Russian society, with spectacular choruses and dances. Tchaikovsky's powerful music vividly conveys the passion and despair of the young Tatyana as she declares her love for Onegin. With Elena Prokina as Tatyana, Wojciech Drabowicz as Eugene Onegin, Martin Thompson as Lensky. With the London Philharmonic at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Directed by Graham Vick. "Vick ... has created in Onegin a production of near-perfection" DAILY TELEGRAPH "Onegin received precisely the kind of staging and performance that makes Glyndebourne's world-wide reputation." NEW YORK TIMES "Elena Prokina's Tatyana, eagerly awaited, more than filled expectations ... her portrayal here had dramatic truth and intelligence: shy at first, she seemed totally possessed in the Letter Scene ... Her misery at the Larin ball was painful to see." OPERA

Customer Reviews:

Tchaikovsky's 'lyric scenes' without an Onegin.......2005-11-14

Filmed in the then new opear house at Glyndebourne, this production of Eugen Onegin starts off quite promisingly, with Yvonne Minton in a fine appearance as Mme Larina alongside Ludmila Filatova as the nanny, accompanying, then following the two sisters on their opening duet.

Sets, not unlike the EU production on dvd, are minimal. Louise Winter is charming, coquettish as Olga, and Prokina intensely involved as Tatiana. Its such an intensity, though to seem like Tatiana at times is seized by a mystical vision of sorts, while reading about the sufferings of lovers in romance novels - something that perhaps only the Mormons can explain. Andrew Davis, thus far, lends a nice, even flow, to accompany his singers, and the peasants' chorus is heard complete, unlike with the competing version (not that I miss it there all that much).

Martin Thompson and Wojciech Dabrowicz enter as Lensky and Onegin, both with their long hair, certainly appearing both of them to be of the arts-and-letters crowd. Thompson proceeds to give a warm, attractive performance as Lensky, but Dabrowicz's Onegin immediately seems two-dimensional, for the heavy emphasis on the foppish, dandy characteristics of the anti-heroic protagonist, and such as he presents himself here that at best the two grown up enough sisters would politely brush off, or at worst but very plausibly, giggle at.

Apart from a few intonation problems from Prokina, the following two scenes go well, Filatova also acting up a storm in her supporting role, but the Onegin of Dabrowicz, in his dismissal of the Tatiana, still having us wonder why anyone was so interested in the first place. Elena Prokina gives Tatiana an otherworldly fey quality to the part of Tatiana, less warm and realistic than Boylan, but attractive in her own distinctive way and noone to argue with in terms of being on idiomatic terms with the language - she and Filatova the two true Russians in this cast.

Stage direction becomes more and more of a problem in the final two acts. The country ball scene at the start of Act Two looks more like one than the staging for EU, but one finds in having to give an individual narrative to each chorus member, that eventually the focus on the main characters gets lost. One or two chorus members look so similar for the formal ball scene in Act Three, so that any insight by taking this approach is also lost.

The confrontation between Lensky and Onegin never quite works up any head of steam, compared with the other version. The formal details of a duel of that period are worked out most meticulously for the fateful scene in question, Martin Thompson sings his lament persuasively; the duel happens offstage. It is such that would have only given Dabrowicz a merely throwaway moment of sympathy or compassion, had the scene ended anything like the one from the EU dvd. Davis, by this point, is still efficient on the podium, but leading blandly, lets much slip by undercharacterized.

The Act Three Polonaise begins as a bouncy ballet, with foppish and other cute mannerisms overdone. Frode Olsen sings the Gremin aria, looking the rough-hewn soldier still, but adding little insight beyond that. Dabrowicz sings painfully out of tune for the entire act, and drags down the still clearly more sympathetic Tatiana along with him as such too. Davis ends Act Three, Scene One, without reference to the ecossaise that is cut in both modernist versions. With all the above, I can only give this Onegin a guarded recommendation at best, and point to my review of the EU dvd of Eugen Onegin with Orla Boylan and Vladimir Glushchak.

For the traditionalists, the Kirov version with Sergei Leiferkus (to originally have been on a Philips Gergiev set on cd with Prokina, before Hvorostovsky and Bychkov stepped in) and Yuri Marusin as the two leading men, and with a very fine, patrician Gremin (Vladimir Okhotnikov) and cute Olga (Larissa Diadkova) alongside, but bland Tatiana, gets my nod. Yuri Temirkanov, early mentor of Gergiev, conducts the score affectionately, and with a little heavier tendency to sentimentalize, thus without quite the increasingly palpable authority of Rozhdestvensky. He is not listed in the credits on the vhs I checked out once, but it is obviously him, as the camera makes clear to us between scenes.

Mirella Freni, opposite Wolfgang Brendel and a stentorian Lensky (Petr Dvorsky), in Chicago, and very much as seen also in Houston the same year (1985) makes a thoroughly attractive Tatiana, if vocally, narratively painting with thick strokes here and there. This may still be out on vhs, but has not made it out on dvd yet. Freni is also heard even a little more effectively on DGG cd's, opposite the deftly turned Thomas Allen and led by crackling, fiery Dresden forces under James Levine.

Tchaikovsky would be pleased.......2005-10-29

In my 1960 edition of Donald Grout's History of Western Music he dismisses Tchaikovsky in a single paragraph; stick to pleasant little Ballets, he suggests, it's all you're good for. Music in the middle of the 20th Century had been hijacked by Academia. Webern was in. Lyrical tonality was verboten. When Stravinsky owned-up to adoring Tchaikovsky, considering him the most talented of all Russian composers, alarm bells should have gone off in the halls of music schools everywhere. A fatal disconnect between musical establishment and audience was in full swing. In the clearest case of intellectual arrogance you will ever see, Tchaikovsky as a composer of "serious" music was denigrated for years. But things have changed. Eugene Onegin is an example of why.

This lyrical Opera, an homage to Tchaikovsky's beloved Mozart, lacks the bloody melodrama of Verdi and Puccini or the cosmic bluster of Wagner. Rather it sets Pushkin's tragic tale of doomed love to music of gentle beauty, incorporating stunning choruses and thrilling dances. The libretto by the composer and Konstantin Shilovsky portrays Russian society with a Tolstoy-like breadth and perceptive observation.

In the youthful Tatyana, Tchaikovsky creates a nearly three-dimensional character, portraying her love for Onegin and her inevitable despair at its tragic end with a dramatic rightness reminiscent of Mozart. Elena Prokina is an inner-directed and vulnerable Tatyana, singing the role beautifully. She exhibits an authentic grace, while in the famous Letter scene exhuding post-adolescent angst only someone like Tchaikovsky could create. Wojciech Drabowicz makes a fine Onegin with the coolest Operatic hairdo I've ever seen (Buster Poindexter?). Martin Thompson is Lensky, Louise Winter sings Olga. They are both fine. The entire cast is quite good, navigating the Russian Libretto like seasoned pros.

It is the Graham Vick Production staged at the wonderful Glyndebourne Festival Opera that is the real star of this excellent DVD. It is amazing how wonderful Opera can look and sound when stripped of all superfluity. The sets have an almost Shaker spareness yet appear as Russian as Vodka, caviar and blini. A wondrous simplicity inhabits this production. A true love for this Opera. It is worth purchasing for that alone.

The sound is simple two channel Dolby Digital stereo. Good enough for this British Channel Four Television production taped in 1994. If you are spoiled by multi-channel surround sound like DTS 5.1 (as I am) you might miss it, but only slightly. It is clear and spacious enough.

This is a good DVD that is definitely worth owning if you are building an Opera collection. I treasure all of the Glyndebourne productions I own. They do it right!

Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Rozhdestvensky, Boylan, Glushchak, European Union Opera

Average customer rating:

A heartfelt moving modern production
Flawed, but distinctive Euro Onegin from young cast
Buy it, but close your eyes when you watch it.
Not bad but all the other versions are better
Overvalued !

Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Rozhdestvensky, Boylan, Glushchak, European Union Opera
Starring: Innokenti Smoktunovsky , Antonina Shuranova , Kirill Lavrov , Vladislav Strzhelchik , and Evgeni Leonov
Director: Igor Talankin
Manufacturer: Kultur Video
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Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Prokina, Drabowicz, Thompson, Winter, Minton, Olsen, Davis, Glyndebourne Opera
Eugene Onegin
Puccini - Tosca / Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Ruggero Raimondi, David Cangelosi, Antonio Pappano, Royal Opera
Donizetti - L'Elisir d'Amore / Eschwe, Netrebko, Villazon, Wiener Staatsoper

ASIN: B00005RIXX
Release Date: 2001-11-20

Amazon.com

The important balance to be struck in any production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin is between, on the one hand, the long lyrical monologues (Tatiana's letter scene, Lensky's aria, Gremin's praise of his wife) and the crucial confrontations between Tatiana and Onegin with the more public scenes in which these private emotions evolve into tragedy and disillusion. In this European Union Opera production, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky finds this balance effortlessly. The chorus that dances its way through the small-town ball that ends in Lensky's challenge is as much a character in the tragedy as the principals. The principals are excellent, too. Orla Boylan is good both as the mature Tatiana and as the callow girl who first falls for Onegin, while Vladimir Glushchak's Onegin is a convincing object of her devotion as well as a self-pitying egoist who wrecks his own life and those of Olga and Lensky. The orchestral sound is convincing but unexciting. --Roz Kaveney

Customer Reviews:

A heartfelt moving modern production.......2005-10-14

This is a very striking modern production of the opera in line with Nikolaus Lehnhoff's other attempts (a wonderful series of Janacek operas from Glyndebourne and the new Parsifal)--strong, at times symbolic, use of colors, simplified sets, traditional costumes and details. The singers are all young--no great voices here--but tremendously committed and convincing. The conducting is as good as in any recording, full of color and unexpected detail. To really appreciate Tchaikovsky's world and musical/pictorial image you would no doubt want to see one of the good Russian DVDs (Bolshoi or Kirov); but this is a very moving performance which stands up well beside the more traditional ones.

Flawed, but distinctive Euro Onegin from young cast.......2005-05-15

Among six versions on vhs or dvd or Eugen Onegin now, this European Union Opera Company (EU) Onegin is one of the two modernist ones, the other of which (produced by Graham Vick) on the one hand, mixes in more traditional elements than this one does, but fatally loses so much focus, intensity for its second half. The EU version makes excruciating drama out of all critical passages in its final hour. The much more than casually engaged interaction between all characters in this Onegin belies that it was one put together under international auspices.

Nikolaus Lehnhoff is the producer for the EU dvd. It starts out not promising quite as much as it will deliver, whereas the Vick/Davis one does start off quite well, with Andrew Davis offering a little more flow from the podium than an at first slightly heavier Rozhdestvensky. Orla Boylan, on the EU, strikes some viewers as a little above the middleweight limit (and the Act 3 derived frontispiece for newcomers especially is a little unfair), the Filipievna (Katja Boost) as not looking any older than the sisters; the Larina of Ineke Vlogtman holds her own, compared with the cameo appearance by Yvonne Minton on the Vick/Davis.

The handsome, energetic Olga of Anna Burford offers deep contralto reserves, but comes off as just a bit too hyper early on. All issues brought up here so far are minor, including a brief line of sagging pitch by the entering Onegin of Vladimir Glushchak during the quartet of lovers. The Lensky is Michael Konig, who perhaps gives a little too early hint of what a hothead this character quickly becomes in Act Two. He sings lyrically, attractively enough, when not compelled to force, which occurs momentarily only twice. The dreamy poet Lensky of Martin Thompson on Vick/Davis is a little preferable.

What is there to make of the two relative unknown leads on this, the EU Onegin? The answer is quite a bit actually, but with a perplexed shrug of chagrin about what may have happened the past six years, to the two singers in question.

Irish soprano Orla Boylan, while less intense early on an actress than Elena Prokina (Vick/Davis), is the more girlish, homespun, and frequently most personably attractive of the two, and apart from a few moments, more clearly on pitch. Looking up her bio on the net, the mention of Renata Scotto throws up a red flag. Boylan, no doubt here however, is a smart and very shrewd girl, knowing to in a way self-critically replace a couple of uncomfortable pitches written in the closing duet to the Letter Scene with her nurse, with two of her own just slightly enough above the break to comfortably sing them in tune; she does so with maximum expressive impact. Whereas I do not endorse this practice, she still makes complete musical sense of the line in question.

Her Letter Scene, especially at the lyrical core of it, exudes a very attractive intimacy, redolent of Schubert, Schumann, with fine acting to match. The heartbreak of later scenes, and poise she exudes when meeting Onegin in Act Three, are all very palpable, and she handles everything in a great final scene with Glushchak with aplomb, and not intimidated in the least by how much the intensity of all proceedings has been turned up. Nuccia Focile on the Philips set (on cd) handles comparable challenges a little less well, with her tendency to constrict at the break to pull forth more sound above it (and which for her constantly threatens intonation), such a tendency to remind me directly of Scotto. She is suitably charming, though, for so much else less hard on such a light voice as hers.

Vladimir Glushchak is the handsome but equally ever self-conscious, reticent, introverted and at least seemingly to himself, prudent, sagacious Onegin. He (and also the Prince Gremin in Act Three) capitalizes very well on his comfort with the language he is singing. He also makes most flexible, almost always subtle use of his lean voice to comfortably meet all the vocal demands of his part. Here is an Onegin easily comparable to Thomas Allen on DGG, but the more specifically urbane, thus less cosmopolitan of the two.

Apart from a fleeting moment of questionable intonation, he yields nothing to any of the competition. In appearance on stage, he is a gaunt man, but never one to so unduly strain thoracic, neck muscles to indicate emotional intensity as with Dwayne Croft on a televised final scene opposite Catherine Malfitano once, and is often the temptation nowadays. He quickly establishes frisson with the Lensky in their moments of confrontation, to make both them, and also the moment on a bare, bleak, white sheet covered stage for the duel scene, where as curtain falls, he leans over the body of his former friend, very intense.

Let's see, hear more work of both Glushchak and Boylan, soon, the latter from Ireland again to also challenge the market hegemony of Ronan Tynan and gang, shameless about feeding at the public trough, with the offer of something so much better, honest, and substantial - no pun intended. One gets much enjoyment from watching her closely throughout this dvd. She, of course, brings out Gennady Rozhdestvensky, sparkle in his eye, for curtain calls at the end. One wishes that we could have seen at least a few glimpses of him during orchestral interludes.

The first scene of Act Three, following the scene of Lensky's death, is riskily staged quite macabre, Polonaise and onward, unlike any other seen on video. The highly snobbish air at the St Petersburg ball is most effectively seen a little under the cover of darkness. Bring on Michail Schelomianski as the safely complacent Prince Gremin, one to shrewdly enter in a wink or two to his lines about his living in the midst of a very stuffy court, as his lines in the middle section of his aria tell us. He sings all of it, the one moment of relaxation within an intense final act, very attractively. The Vick/Davis, especially for Act Three Scene One, and with the character of Onegin for the entirety of it, wallows in foppishness; Lehnhoff gives us the same thing in spades, but wisely limits it to Monsieur Triquet (couplets very aptly sung, acted by Thomas Morris) and the noir setting of the polonaise.

Some of the abstraction of the Lehnhoff production and a little slowness to find its pace at the start of it, may be off putting to a few viewers. As one more closely watches it, most everything after the first scene of it expresses a keen awareness of the music and dramatic potential of doing new, interesting things with the subject at hand. Paired with the authoritative, frequently probing and for second half intensely engaged baton of Gennady Rozhdestvensky, I can not hesitate in giving this dvd a sound endorsement for what is, after at worst a tentative first 30 minutes of it, an Onegin mostly worthy of five stars.

Buy it, but close your eyes when you watch it........2002-07-26

I agree with everything the next viewer(dated May 31, 02)said about this DVD. I like Tchaikovsky's operas. I expected to see something Russian, but I was very disappointed. The stage design and the costume looked awlful. Only the Onegin character makes the DVD worth buying. Fat Tosca is okay, but not a Fat Tatiyana. The VHS version with Yuri Marusin and Sergei Leyferkus is definitely the 1st choice. It should be issued on DVD.

Not bad but all the other versions are better.......2002-06-01

I bought this DVD because it was so highly rated. It doens't deserve 4 stars! Not even three! The first act is pretty awful. It's so abstract and overdone. It gives you no feeling of a Russian countryside. It looks "POP". Olga is childish instead of youthful, Tatiana is fat (could be a beautiful lady if she loses some weight), Nya-nya is a big healthy maid. But Onegin is a real handsome guy. Maybe that's the only highlight of the whole opera.
Among all the other productions, my first choice is the live performance from Kirov with Yuri Marusin and Sergei Leyferkus. Tatiana (I don't recall the singer's name)is a rare beauty. She looks totally in role. I can't imagine anyone better than her. Only available on VHS, though. Too bad.

Overvalued !.......2002-05-17

OK, but overvalued according to the other rewievs.

Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Solti, Weikl, Hamari [Region 2]

Average customer rating:

I agree with stan z cole, however,....
Excellent!
beautiful film version
Onegin on film
a very good tatyana and onegin

Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Solti, Weikl, Hamari [Region 2]
Starring: Innokenti Smoktunovsky , Antonina Shuranova , Kirill Lavrov , Vladislav Strzhelchik , and Evgeni Leonov
Director: Igor Talankin
Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: DVD
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Eugene Onegin
Donizetti - L'Elisir d'Amore / Eschwe, Netrebko, Villazon, Wiener Staatsoper
Prokofiev - Betrothal in a Monastery / Netrebko, Diadkova, Alexashkin, Akimov, Gergalov, Gassiev, Sokolova, Gergiev, Kirov Opera
R. Strauss - Elektra
Verdi - Il Trovatore / Domingo, Kabaivanksa, Cossotto, Cappuccilli, van Dam, Zednik, von Karajan, Vienna Opera

ASIN: B000063VB5
Release Date: 2002-09-24

Customer Reviews:

I agree with stan z cole, however,...........2004-01-31

I must agree with the previous reviews about the dubbing, or remastering shortfalls. Frankly, those glaring problems prevent me from writing a review with 5 stars. If this DVD was a live opera performance, with no remastering or dubbing, I probably would give it more than 5 stars, if I could. Afterall, this of course Tchaikovsky and Onegin (Solti, too). Also the actresses protraying Olga and Tatyana make this DVD. I'm glad the actress protraying Olga isn't on a CD, because she is awesome looking. I never heard of her before. Tatyana is fine, but Olga is perfect. I'm not sure how any production team can get past the remastering/dubbing issue. This is my first Onegin on video or DVD and it will suffice. I made an audio tape of the Met broadcast from a few years ago (of course for my own use) and that was just about a perfect performance. (With as much money as I give the Met, I think I can tape a performance or two for myself!)

Excellent!.......2003-06-26

I really enjoyed this version of Onegin. It's more like a film than an opera. Indexing between the booklet and the DVD is 1 off, and there is a glitch in sound between tracks 12 and 13, but it is still a grat production. And I didn't have any problems navigating to Act II or Act III. What surprised me, the native Russian speaker, is that non-Russian singers sing in almost perfect Russian language.

beautiful film version.......2002-12-03

The film lasts only 117 minutes, which means almost 40 minutes of the original score is missing. Notoriously the opening theme and duet&quartet is cut out and the film start from the peasants' scene. Although, this DVD version includes the music only track of the opening. So, if you go to the bonus menu and select "prologue", it plays the opening music, duet & quartet and continues flawlessly to the film.
Some poeple complained about the scene selection. My copy of DVD works fine. It brings me to the very beginning of the act II or the act III. No problem.

Onegin on film.......2002-12-02

This is a beautifully filmed version of Onegin. While the music is impressively lyrical, you would even forget it's an opera because it's so well filmed. Since it's a film version, there are quite a few scenes edited out from the original Tchaikovsky's score.
The film starts with peasants' chorus. The opening music and quartet are deleted, which is actually a shame because I think the quartet contains the most important key word of the story; "Heaven granted me the habit in place of happiness." Maybe the director didn't want to give it away right from the beginning. Anyway, this music is restored in the special features and you can enjoy the music without motion picture.
The production is really great. Lady Larina's estate, Prince Gremin's palace, duel scene in the snow, scenes of the country side and of St-Petersburg, etc...everything is beautifully filmed. Even Onegin and Lensky arrive on hourses in the beginning. It's not filmed in studio so nothing seems phoney. Musically, it's one of the best recordings ever made.
The image isn't much remastered, nor is the sound. You can select DTS or 2-channel stereo and subtitles in 6 languages.
This is the best version of Onegin on DVD for now.... at least till someone put the Kirov's production with Leiferkus on DVD.

a very good tatyana and onegin.......2002-10-18

I love this. It's true that the tracks don't go where they're supposed to but I watch opera all at once. This is a film, not a stage version, and the natural settings are wonderful. The acting is very good --- the actors are NOT the singers, which I found a bit strange initially --- and the singing is excellent. THe characterisations seem very good to me. There are some cuts, which I miss: in particular at the start when Tatyana's mother and nurse sing about their acceptance of their lot, and again when her nurse speaks of her young (arranged) marriage to Tatyana. I think these are odd omissions, since this is part of the important theme for Tatyana. I would recommend this dvd.

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 (Pathetique) & Ballet Music from Eugene Onegin - A Naxos Musical Journey

Average customer rating:

Wrong pictures.
........ BLAND, dead-letter postcards ...........
One-Star for music lovers
Still not quite perfect but very nice indeed

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 (Pathetique) & Ballet Music from Eugene Onegin - A Naxos Musical Journey
Starring: Tchaikovsky
Manufacturer: DVD International
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005AB7U
Release Date: 2001-03-13

Amazon.com

This "Russian Greatest Hits" journey couples the majestic architecture and overwhelming vistas in Russia with Tchaikovsky's most sweeping music. This whirlwind tour travels from Moscow's Red Square to St. Petersburg's Pushkin Theater to the Black Sea. Tchaikovsky's most popular work, the Sixth Symphony ("Pathétique"), and the lovely ballets from his greatest opera, Eugene Onegin, are gracefully played by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Antoni Wit. Such musical accompaniment to the breathtaking visuals leads to the conclusion that this country, so rich in history and culture, obviously inspired Tchaikovsky's free-flowing melodic genius. Lone quibble: The disc's "travel notes" (briefly describing places "visited" during each section) would be more helpful if they could be accessed while viewing the program. --Kevin Filipski

Description

The haunting landscape and landmarks of Russia evoke the eternal melodies of the country's most popular and celebrated composer, Pyotr Iliyich Tchaikovsky. This program floats on Tchaikovsky's famed "Pathetique" symphony and ballet music from his celebrated opera Eugene Onegin. From blossoming botanical gardens to the bold architectural wonders of the Kremlin and Red Square; from the legendary Pushkin Theater to the dramatic site of the Odessa Steps immortalized in Eisenstein's classic film The Battleship Potemkin; from breathtaking views of the Black Sea to the calm of a sleeping city on a winter night; this is the world that inspired the eternal genius of Tchaikovsky.

Customer Reviews:

Wrong pictures........2002-05-06

I coulnd't care less for all that totally irrelevant scenery. What I would like to see is the orchestra and the conductor, like in the wonderful recording of Tchaikovsky's Fifth with Tshernuschenko and the St. Petersburg Orchestra.

........ BLAND, dead-letter postcards ..................2001-07-18

This one's more or less "music by numbers", a good introduction to the work for the very, very young, or if you're very bored, zap this on the bigscreen, get into the kitchen and whip up a batch of blintzes, in other words : good background music.

The AUDIO quality is excellent [cannot fault that] but the visuals are not well edited [just plain old boring stuff, sunsets, museum shots, people and more people] - this is Ken Russell territory or even Elias E. Merhige, so get with it folks - blow our minds with some REAL images!

One-Star for music lovers.......2001-06-21

Naxos is trying to sell you music CD + tourism video with theprice of a DVD. No concert scene, no musicians. ... Don't buy! You should get them for free.

Still not quite perfect but very nice indeed.......2001-03-25

DVD International has added a new entry to its Naxos Musical Journey series: Tchaikovski's (DVDI 1010). Using the Naxos recording with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (Antoni Wit) for the Symphony and the Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Ondrej Lenard) for the ballet, the visual format is a tour of locales in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa, Ukraine, and the Crimea.

The first movement of the Symphony is exemplary in its coordination of natural settings with the mood and quick changes of mood in the orchestra: dark blue skies and waters for the Adagio, brighter scenes of mountains and lakes for the Allegro non troppo. The last movement (Adagio lamentoso-Andante) is treated with equal skill. However, the bouncy third movement (Allegro con grazia) suffers from a case of the cutes with people going up and down the famous Odessa steps in time to the music and other shots of people not at all in synch with the music. The second movement starts with a closeup of a frog and gets too much involved with people rather than scenes.

Both of the Onegin pieces suffer from the same desire to show milling throngs, although there are several moments in the Polonaise when music and picture get together in a very powerful way.

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Pursuing what is unavailable.......2007-05-27

I would worship at The Temple of Ralph Fiennes.......2007-05-22

What the heck?.......2007-05-21

Beautiful story of unfullfilled love.......2007-05-20

Intriguing.......2007-05-18

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