—
When Tatyana declares her love to Onegin, does she suspect for a moment that he will reject her, preferring to flirt with her sister Olga, much to the frustration of her friend Lensky?
However Onegin does not realize that by his refusal, he reaches the point of no return. And when, a few years later, he is taken by a powerful admiration when he sees Tatyana again, metamorphosed by her social ascension, it’s however too late. Onegin will have no choice but to sink into deep despair.
Pushkin’s novel portrays 19th-century Russian life in lavish settings – the peaceful countryside and the world of Moscow society. Here Tchaikovsky finds the material for one of his most popular and powerful works. His music subtly underscores the feelings evolving towards a nostalgia so characteristic of the Russian soul.
Lyric drama in three acts and seven tableaux
Libretto by Constantin Shilovsky and composed,
based on the novel by Alexander Pushkin
First performed on March 29, 1879
at the Small Theatre of the Imperial College of Music, Moscow
Gavriel Heine has conducted in the most important theaters of the world: Royal Opera House of Covent Garden in London, Festspielhaus of Baden-Baden, Teatro Regio of Turin, LAC of Lugano, Bolshoi of Moscow, Bunka Kaitan of Tokyo, Grand Theatre of Tientsin in China, Opera of Dubai, Kennedy Center of Washington… He is the first American graduate of the Moscow Conservatory and one of the last students of Ilya Musin at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 2007 he was invited to make his debut at the Mariinsky Theatre, where he has since conducted over 850 performances and concerts until March 2022. His repertoire consists of the greatest operas and ballets: Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Die Zauberflöte, Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and La Cenerentola, Verdi’s Macbeth, La forza del destino and Otello, Puccini’s La bohème, Madama Butterfly, Tosca and Il trittico, Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake…
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Eugene Onegin (2022).
Lithuanian-born Kostas Smoriginas is one of today’s most promising bass-baritones. He made his debut at the Berliner Staatsoper as Escamillo (Carmen) and has since performed the role with the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle (recorded for EMI Classics), the Salzburg Easter Festival, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Santa Fe Music Festival, the Dresden Semperoper, and with the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Recent successes include debuts at the Opernhaus Zurich and Theater an der Wien, Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde at the Cologne Opera and with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Andris Nelsons at Carnegie Hall, Escamillo in Barrie Kosky’s production and Kasper Holten’s new production at the Bregenz Festival, Heerrufer in David Alden’s new Lohengrin and Tchelakov in a new production of Boris Godunov – all three at Covent Garden -, Figaro in Dresden, the Count in Le nozze di Figaro in Malmö, the title roles of Aleko and the Demon at La Monnaie, and his debut as the High Priest in Samson et Dalila in Vilnius.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Don Giovanni (2017).
Since making a successful debut in January 2013 as Violetta Valery in La Traviata at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Maria Bayankina has continued to perform the main roles in the classical soprano repertoire. In 2013 and 2014, she sang Tatyana in Eugène Onegin, Violetta in La Traviata, Corinna in Il Viaggio a Reims, the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, and the title role of Rusalka. Bayankina is laureate of several international competitions such as Competizione dell’Opera, the International Competition for Young Singers in Memory of Maxim Mikhailov, the Obukhova Competition, and the Shebalin Competition. She will perform the role of Tatyana in Eugène Onegin, at the Opéra de Lausanne as well as at the Rome Opera, with James Conlon.
Originally from Belarus, Pavel Petrov is the winner of the Operalia 2018 First Prize and the Don Plácido Domingo Ferrer de la Zarzuela Prize. He is also a finalist in the Hans Gabor Belvedere and Reine Sonja international competitions. His engagements include Tamino (Die Zauberflöte) at the Wiener Staatsoper, Opéra de Paris, Graz and Semperoper Dresden, Lenski (Eugene Onegin) at Teatro Massimo Palermo, Klagenfurt and Lausanne, Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) at the Paris Opera and in Graz, Pong (Turandot) at Covent Garden’s Royal Opera House, Alfredo (La traviata) at the Verona Arena, Ferrando (Così fan tutte) in Australia and Chaplitsky (The Queen of Spades) at the Salzburg Festival. Highlights of his 2023/24 season include Alfredo in Florida and concerts with the Orchestre de Paris, the Spanish National Orchestra, the Washington Symphony Orchestra and London’s Royal Philharmonic conducted by Vasily Petrenko. He was a member of the Belarus Bolshoi Theatre between 2012 and 2016. During the 2015/16 season, he was also a member of the Zurich Opera Studio. He graduated from the Belarusian State Music Academy and studied under Piotr Ridiger. He has taken part in master classes given by Dmitry Vdovin, Adrian Kelly, Hedwig Fassbender and Fabio Luisi.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Eugène Onéguine (2022)
Born in St. Petersburg in 1984, she graduated in piano from the Rimsky-Korsakov Music College in 2004, and in singing in 2006. She made her debut at the Novosibirsk Opera Theatre in the title role of Carmen by Bizet in 2008, and sang Polina in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades. She sang the role of the composer in Ariadne in Naxos by Strauss at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Olga in Eugene Onegin, Angelina in La Cenerentola, Isabella in L’Italiana in Algeri, Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, and Dorabella in Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte. In March 2018, she participated in the recording of Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera CD Kaschey l’Immortel with the Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra, performing the role of Kascheevna.
Trained in China, Qiulin Zhang won the grand prize at the Voix lyriques Marmande competition and continued her training at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris with Andréa Guiot and Jacques Doucet. She performed in France, Dublin, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Munich, at the Reiseopera, in Lausanne, at the Avenches Festival, and at La Monnaie in Brussels. But it was at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse that she took part in several landmark productions: Médée, Les contes d’Hoffmann, Das Rheingold, Siegfried and Die Götterdämmerung, Die Frau ohne Schatten, OEdipe, Die Zauberflöte, Les Dialogues des Carmélites. A true contralto, Qiulin Zhang is particularly associated with the role of Erda in Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Capitole (directed by Nicolas Joël), at the Châtelet in Paris (directed by Bob Wilson), at the Opéra Bastille (directed by Günter Krämer). At the Beijing Opera, she interpreted the roles of Ulrica (Un ballo in maschera), Filipievna (Eugene Onegin) and Azucena (Il trovatore). She also participated in a premiere of Detlev Glanert’s Solaris at the Cologne Opera and premiered Bright Cheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber in San Francisco, which she revived at the Hong Kong Festival.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Les contes d’Hoffmann (2019).
Alexandr Bezrukov studied from 2009 to 2011 at the Novosibirsk Conservatory and then from 2011 to 2015 at the Moscow Choral Academy, where he won the Viktor Popov Prize for the best diploma. Winner in November 2013 of the Dvořák competition in Karlovy Vary, he joined the Academy for Young Singers of the Monte-Carlo Opera in 2015, following in parallel the master classes of Laurent Campellone, Corrado Rovaris and Ruggero Raimondi. He made his debut on the Monegasque stage in 2016 in the Great Englishman in Prokofiev’s The Player, and the same at the Mikhailovsky (Michael) Theater in St. Petersburg in Hill from La bohème. In December 2017, he performed in recital on the stage of the Opera Grand Avignon in a Russian and French repertoire. In June 2018, he was one of the soloists in Mozart’s Requiem at the Nice Opera alongside the Klassika Orchestra. At the Mikhailovsky Theater, he was heard as Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Prince Gremin (Eugene Onegin), Don Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia), René (Iolanta), the Pharaoh (Aida), Daland (Der fliegende Holländer) and De Brogni (La Juive).
Alexandre Diakoff won first prize for singing in the class of Eric Tappy at the Geneva Conservatory of Music. He regularly performs character roles in opera. He has performed Amida (L’Ormindo), Simone (La finta semplice), Don Magnifico (La Cenerentola), Bartolo (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Bruschino père (Il signor Bruschino), Slook (La cambiale di matrimonio), Benedict (La bohème), the doctor Grenvil (La traviata), the doctor (The Nose), Amantio di Nicolao and Maestro Spinelloccio (Gianni Schicchi). As an oratorio singer, he has interpreted the great works of the repertoire. At the Opéra de Lausanne: Le Chat botté (2009), Monsieur Choufleuri (Route Lyrique 2012), Le Petit Prince (2014), La Cenerentola (2015), My fair Lady (2015), La Fille du régiment (2016), Hamlet (2017), Les Zoocrates (2017), Simon Boccanegra (2018) and Le nozze di Figaro (2021).
The French tenor Jean Miannay studied singing in Lausanne with Brigitte Balleys and in Berlin in the class of Scot Weir. He distinguished himself in 2018 at the 4th Raymond Duffaut Competition, where he won the grand prize. Following this, he won various awards at the Clermont-Ferrand Competition, the Kattenburg Competition, as well as the 2nd Vienna International Music Competition. His young lyric voice leads him to interpret roles such as Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Beppe (Pagliacci), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Alfredo (La traviata), Vincent (Mireille), or Des Grieux (Manon). In 2018, he made his first steps at the Lausanne Opera, where he performs regularly thereafter. He sings in France at the operas of Massy, Avignon and Clermont-Ferrand, as well as at the Chorégies d’Orange for the fourth consecutive year. In 2022, he made his German debut at the Theater Magdeburg in a production of Orpheus in der Unterwelt. Curious by nature, he also flourishes in contemporary creation as well as in chamber music. He has performed Benjamin Britten’s Illuminations and Serenade for horn and tenor, Janáček’s Diary of the Missing and Schumann’s Dichterliebe. He is expected this summer as Remendado (Carmen) at the Chorégies d’Orange and joins the Opéra Studio du Rhin for the 2023/24 season.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon (2018), Les Contes d’Hoffmann (2019), Rinaldo (2020), L’Auberge du Cheval-Blanc (2021), Semiramide, Eugene Onegin and L’elisir d’amore (2022).
The Opéra de Lausanne Choir is young, made up of students of singing from Lausanne’s University of Music and the Geneva HEM, and professional singers. Its members are selected by audition and periodically reheard. For each opera, they are distributed depending on their voice and/or aptitudes. Thanks mainly to their talent on stage, supported by an infectious enthusiasm, they are highly appreciated by all the theatre directors invited. For a few years the choir has benefitted from preparation by several experienced choir masters from different backgrounds, chosen depending on the works being sung and their specific interest.
Born in St. Petersburg, Gleb Skvortsov began his musical studies at the age of seven at the famous Glinka College, before entering the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, from which he graduated with a diploma in choral conducting with distinction. After winning the prestigious Evgeny Mravinsky Prize, he continued his studies at the Geneva Conservatory in the conducting class. In 2001, he was awarded a scholarship from the Cercle romand Richard Wagner. He worked as an assistant to Michel Corboz, Dmitri Kitaïenko, Emmanuel Krivine and Fabio Luisi. Between 1998 and 2008, he directed the Chœur de l’Université de Genève, which during his tenure became one of the most prominent choral groups in Geneva. During the same period, he directed the University of Geneva Orchestra, which he himself founded. He has been the instigator and the artistic and musical director of several opera productions, including the Swiss premieres of the musical Moskva, Shostakovich by Cheriomushki, and The Story of the Pope and his Servant Balda by the same composer, as well as a French version of Nino Rota’s Il cappello di paglia di Firenze – an opera that he was also called upon to conduct, at a moment’s notice and in its original version, at the Opéra de Lausanne. In 2009, he created the Camerata Venia, an orchestral ensemble composed of young musicians of the French-speaking part of Switzerland, which performs regularly in Geneva.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Il cappello di paglia di Firenze (2006) and Eugene Onegin (2022).
Gavriel Heine has conducted in the most important theaters of the world: Royal Opera House of Covent Garden in London, Festspielhaus of Baden-Baden, Teatro Regio of Turin, LAC of Lugano, Bolshoi of Moscow, Bunka Kaitan of Tokyo, Grand Theatre of Tientsin in China, Opera of Dubai, Kennedy Center of Washington… He is the first American graduate of the Moscow Conservatory and one of the last students of Ilya Musin at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 2007 he was invited to make his debut at the Mariinsky Theatre, where he has since conducted over 850 performances and concerts until March 2022. His repertoire consists of the greatest operas and ballets: Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Die Zauberflöte, Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and La Cenerentola, Verdi’s Macbeth, La forza del destino and Otello, Puccini’s La bohème, Madama Butterfly, Tosca and Il trittico, Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake…
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Eugene Onegin (2022).
After receiving a grant from the French Ministry of Culture in 1982 and 1983 for training in opera directing, Éric Vigié worked as assistant and director at the Opéra de Nice under Pierre Médecin between 1983 and 1992, and at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence between 1986 and 1990. He has worked with some of the most famous opera directors, including Margarita Wallmann, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Georges Lavaudant, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Pet Halmen, Daniel Mesguich and Nicolas Joel. Since 1991, he has directed over a hundred productions in France and abroad: Opéra de Nice, Festival de Strasbourg, Capitole de Toulouse, Teatro Colón (centenary show in 2008), Teatro Municipal de Santiago del Chile, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Dublin Opera, Mariinsky and Mikhailovsky in St. Petersburg, Buka Kaikan in Tokyo, Opéra Comique, Opéra royal de Wallonie, Kingdom of Bhutan. .. At Madrid’s Teatro Real, he directed and staged the 150th anniversary show in July 2000. From March 1997 to September 2002, Éric Vigié was artistic coordinator and assistant to the General Director of the Teatro Real. From 2002 to 2004, he was the first foreign artistic director to head one of Italy’s twelve national theaters, Teatro Verdi in Trieste. Since July 1, 2005, he has been Director of the Opéra de Lausanne. In 2010, he created the Opéra de Lausanne’s Route Lyrique, and was artistic director of the Avenches Opera Festival from 2011 to 2016.
Karolina Luisoni studied fashion design at the University of Art and Design in Krakow. She continued her training in costume and textile design at the University of Huddersfield, England. Her graduation project in 2013 won her a special award from actor Sir Patrick Steward, as well as a prize from the Northern Society of Costumes and Textiles. In 2015, she won the international competition organized by Luc Besson, for the costumes in his film Valérian et la Cité des mille planètes. In 2019, her “Mephistopheles” costume was exhibited at the Moscow State Historical Museum as part of the “Innovative Costume of the 21st Century: Next Generation” exhibition.
Since 2015, she has collaborated with several theater companies in Switzerland and abroad, and initiated her collaboration with the Opéra de Lausanne, where she participated in the workshop in the making of several Opéra de Lausanne creations. In 2017, she helped create the costumes for the production of Don Giovanni directed by Éric Vigié, followed by Eugène Onéguine in 2021 at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie. Her first production at Opéra de Lausanne was Cendrillon in 2018, followed by L’auberge du Cheval Blanc directed by Gilles Rico in 2021. Karolina Luisoni also works with theaters and theater companies in French-speaking Switzerland, most recently for Les Voyages Extraordinaires, TKM and Petit Théâtre Lausanne, where she will make her latest creation in December 2022 for the show Little Nemo.
Working for both opera and theater, Gary McCann has designed sets and costumes for numerous productions around the world. His work has been exhibited three times at the V&A Museum in London. He has designed the sets for Freischütz and Macbeth in Vienna, Die Fledermaus in Oslo, Carmen in Philadelphia and Seattle, La traviata, Madama Butterfly, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Voix humaine, Ariadne auf Naxos, Fidelio… He has also toured the United Kingdom with Three Days in May, Dangerous Corner, The Shawshank Redemption, La Cage aux folles, The Sound of Music, Saturday Night Fever and Cilla the Musical. At the Opéra de Lausanne: La clemenza di Tito (2018) and Anna Bolena (2019).
Jean-Philippe Guilois entered the National School of the Paris Opera in 1997 and then joined the Rudra Béjart School, with which he participated in several shows and international tours. He made his first professional experience with the Compagnie Buissonnière in Parce que je t’aime, presented at the Théâtre de Vidy-Lausanne. While multiplying his contracts as a dancer, he was introduced to the world of opera as a stage manager, and then became assistant director for La bohème, Nabucco, Carmen and Madame Butterfly at the Avenches Opera Festival, L’Aiglon and La Traviata at the Opéra de Marseille, Armide and Cendrillon at the Opéra de Nancy, Falstaff at the Opéra de Montpellier. Recently, he created the choreographies of My fair Lady at the Opéra de Marseille, Un ballo in maschera at the Opéra de Nancy and Tannhäuser at the Opéra national de Lyon. He currently devotes himself to the creation of choreographies, plays and stage productions.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Alcina (2011), My fair Lady (2015), La vie parisienne (2016), Don Giovanni (2017), Così fan tutte (2018), Les chevaliers de la Table ronde (Route Lyrique 2019), L’auberge du Cheval Blanc (2019) and Dédé (Route Lyrique 2021), My Fair Lady (2022) and Davel (2023)