We saw Virginia Opera's production of Tchaikowsky's Eugene Onegin last week.
Early on, I was struck by the Mozartean clarity of the ensembles and the almost instrumental nature of some of the vocal writing.
I think some of the best music in the opera conveys sentiments that we seldom hear in opera - domestic sentiments such as the two elderly sisters singing about how habit had replaced joy for them or the scene in which one of the sisters is helping her young charge get ready for bed.
Finally, Pushkin's plot seems a lot like Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice only with a sad ending. Normally, I think about how much life in the past was like living today when I go to the opera. But at Onegin I felt like my society is quite different from the one portrayed onstage. I haven't engaged in class-oriented cultured social dancing or dueling over my honor in a long, long time.
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