EUGENE ONEGIN.
Lyric Scenes in three acts by P. J. TSCHAIKOWSKY.
Text after Puschkin's poem of the same name.
Tschaikowsky's opera, long known and so intensely popular throughout Russia, that many of its melodies have become household-properties, has taken a long time to penetrate into other countries. But wherever it has been represented, its success was great and its impression upon the public deep and lasting.
At the Dresden Opera House it was first given October 20th, 1908, though the composer wrote it fully 29 years ago. It was the most brilliant success of the season.
Tschaikowsky is the classic amongst the Russian composers; his concert music is well known and greatly esteemed in Germany.
Of the eleven operas, which he wrote, Eugene Onegin is the best.
The libretto lacks dramatic force, although it is taken from Puschkin's masterpiece, a poem, which in Russia is equalled to Goethe's Faust, but the music is strikingly original and full of exquisite music and harmony. The hearer's attention may be drawn especially to the fine duet between Olga and Tatiana, and to the latter's love letter, a supreme hymn of love in the first act.