Eugene Onegin is one of the Master’s beloved operas. (There are too many). But when he turned up expectantly at The Royal Opera House, the cast seemed to have lost their voices.
Because they were ballet dancers.
Not being a Plié, Pointe, Porte de Bras sort of person (he thinks that Pas de bourrée is spread on bread), the M. was astonished.
Onegin was created by impresario John Cranko in 1965 for his own Stuttgart Ballet. Score by Kurt-Heinz Stolze based on, mostly, orchestrated Tchaikovsky piano works. The translation was artfully done.
In a stunning revival overseen by Reid Anderson, it is the perfect ‘story ballet’. Beautifully crafted.
And she who dislikes opera had a grand night out. There were two intervals.
