Hunsung (Eddy) Lee

Professor Harris-Warrick
Music 1202

Concert Report 2

The concert that I plan on attending for the second report will be Tchaikovsky’s Eugene
Onegin, held at Regal Cinema at Ithaca Mall – performed by the Metropolitan Opera. This will
be my second time watching a classical performance via electronic means, so I look forward to
seeing noting any differences that I’ve had since my observation of the Nobel Prize Concert for
the 1st report. The logistics of the performance will be similar to the Nobel Prize Concert –
professional, and well-rehearsed throughout.

The concert’s sole program consists of the whole opera Eugene Onegin. Tchaikovsky
composed many operas, but this work stands out as undoubtedly the most popular of the bunch.
The entire work is based off of Alexander Pushkin’s novel of the same title. The libretto for the
opera, follows very closely with Pushkin’s text throughout the opera – something that
Tchaikovsky and Shilovsky (lyricist who aided Tchaikovsky throughout the piece’s composition)
intended to maintain the work’s eloquent and poetic touch.

In class, we studied mainly two different types of opera – one of the Italian house, led by
Verdi, and the other of the “Gesamkuntswerk”, led by Wagner. If Eugene Onegin were to be
classified, I believe it would fit more into the Italian house. As mentioned above, the libretto of
the opera was tailored with the singers in mind. In fact, Tchaikovsky decided to compose the
opera after Yelizaveta Lavrovskaya, a famous mezzo-soprano, suggested Tchaikovsky to
compose an opera after being inspired by Pushkin’s work. However, some could argue that this
piece shares some traits of Wagner’s opera as well. First, the music in the opera is dramatic.
Secondly, leitmotivs are scattered throughout the opera for the individual characters and its
feelings. For example, Tatiana’s motif is in A-minor, with a chromatic descent. It sounds sincere,
yet yearning and melancholy – quite representative of her character in the opera. Onegin’s (the
main character) motiv is also in A-minor, but is an ascending A-minor scale with
accompaniment that is slightly out of sync. This gives the listeners an uneasy feel, with tensions
apparent. This again, is very representative of Onegin’s unstable mental state in the opera.

An important distinction that Eugene Onegin has from other operas is that it does not tell
an entire story. The entire opera consists of many snippets of Onegin’s life from Pushkin’s tale.
Tchaikovsky did this intentionally, as he knew that the audience in hand would know of the
missing bits – as Pushkin’s work was so popular around Russia at the time. Thus, for any avid
classical musical listener, it may be beneficial to do some background reading on Pushkin’s work
before watching the opera beforehand.

The overall experience of watching the opera was a positive one. Although I walked in to
Regal Cinemas, expecting a similar experience to the Nobel Prize Concert I listened to for
Concert Report 1, I was due for a shock. The difference in sound quality from earphones to the
movie theatre setup was immense. Although I wasn’t actually at the live opera house, this was
probably the closest I could get to that experience.
 The program provided gave us short synopsis of each act. Knowing how each act was to
progress was particularly helpful as every line was sung in Russian. It was impossible to
understand the lyrics sung by the characters, so knowing the synopsis of each act made it easier
to trying to understand the emotions of each character.

Despite these synopsis, there were many aspects of the plot, particularly regarding
character development and emotion – that I simply had a hard time understanding. Firstly, why
did Tatiana feel so offended and embarrassed from Onegin’s rejection? Onegin replied to her
courtship as kindly as possible, and even offered a hand in friendship. Her crushing reaction,
acting as if the world had ended, seemed unreasonable. Secondly, the lead up to the duel
between Lenski and Onegin was also difficult to comprehend. Onegin flirted with Olga as a petty
retribution, after becoming bored at a party Lenski made him attend. This enraged Lenski to a
degree where he insisted that he have a duel with his life on the line with not just anyone, but his
best friend. The irony of this is that, they both feel apologetic towards each other and are
remorseful – but they still carry out the duel, at the costs of Lenski’s life. When seeing this, I
couldn’t help but feel that these scenes were overly dramatized by Tchaikovsky, and perhaps he
did it so he could dramatize the music played in the background. The contrast from Tatiana’s
sweet aria while in love, to her dejected solo was stark, and the ominous music played in
background prior to the duel was dramatic and impactful. If this was Tchaikovsky’s intentions,
then it was very successful – albeit a bit forced.

The aspect of the opera that struck me the most was the frequent dances that were
scattered throughout the performance. We learned in class how nationalism impacted
compositions in the late 19th century. Music was not only a method of entertainment and leisure,
but also a medium for composers to accentuate national and cultural identity. Tchaikovsky’s
intent in trying to incorporate different bits of Russian culture in Eugene Onegin was evident.
Although the dances do not perform a major role musically, they provide a great medium for
Tchaikovsky to portray the diverse lifestyles of Russia. From suburban farming, to colorful
social circles of the elite in St. Petersburg, diverse lifestyles and socioeconomic statuses were
covered by the dances. I believe that this was a key factor regarding the popularity of the piece,
as every civilian in Russia, whether rich or poor, would have been able to relate to the opera in
some way. Lastly, I found it particularly fascinating how the order of the dances in the opera
seemed to reflect the rise of Tatiana’s status throughout the opera. Initially the first dance we see
is a traditional Russian folk dance – reflecting Tatiana’s status as a regular, innocent civilian.
The final dance that we see is a polonaise – a regal, elegant dance than the folk dance – which
reflects Tatiana’s final status the wife of a young prince.

There were however a few parts of the overall concert experience that I disliked. I felt
that watching the opera through a movie screen was not as satisfying as I had hoped it would be.
For the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, there weren’t many visual centers of attention – the sole
focus was the music (and the occasional facial expressions of Joshua Bell). Having high quality
earphones was sufficient to get the maximum experience. However, I felt that for the opera, there
were more visual details to consider – such as the background settings, outfits of the characters,
dances, overall lighting on the actual set, and how the overall orchestra and conductor carry out
the execution of the musical performance while the singers perform. Being in a slightly dimmed
movie theatre, with everything being portrayed on a movie screen made it more difficult to
appreciate and analyze each traits I mentioned above. In addition, not being able to hear the
vocals live was frustrating! Having been to (pop) concerts before, I know the difference between
hearing vocal music live, and through speakers. It wasn’t the same. To put into analogy, at times
it felt like I was getting a ‘summary’ or a ‘3rd person’s opinion’ of the opera, rather than a
unique, live 1st person view.

Lastly, it was incredibly difficult at times to focus on the opera for three and a half hours.
I don’t think I was the only one with this feeling – as I saw many flashing mobile devices,
coughs, chit-chat amongst viewers, and a few yawns. There were a few people who did leave in
the middle of the performance, which I thought was unfortunate and also rather distracting. This
also led me to think that if I were to introduce or recommend a performance of classical music to
a friend who has not had much exposure to classical music, I would not recommend an opera. I
think only the truly avid fans of Tchaikovsky and Pushkin would have been able to stay fully
attentive throughout the program.

All in all, the opera was a positive experience as a whole. After hearing two
performances through electronic means, I can say that I truly want to attend a concert live, and
plan to do so for Concert Report 3.
 Bibliography

Taruskin, Richard, “Yevgeny Onegin” In The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Ed Stanley
Sadie, Oxford Music Online

Wiley, John Roland, “Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich – Marriage and its Aftermath” In The New
Grove Dictionary. Ed Stanley Sadie, Oxford Music Online