Act I Scene 1
The garden of the Larins’ house. Late summer
Madame Larina, a widow, lives in her country estate with her daughters, Olga and Tatyana. The girls’ singing reminds Larina of her own youth, as she and the old nurse Filippyevna recall how romantic novels and a flirtation with a handsome guards officer were swiftly ended by an arranged marriage: habit took the place of love.
Peasants celebrate the harvest. The girls appear: Olga has no time for Tatyana’s dreaming, and seeks only to enjoy life. Her fiancé, Vladimir Lensky, a young poet, arrives with a stranger – his neighbour and friend Eugene Onegin. Lensky wants to be alone with Olga, while Onegin makes the acquaintance of Tatyana, who decides that this is the man of her dreams.
Scene 2
Tatyana’s bedroom
Unable to sleep, Tatyana asks the nurse about her childhood: was she ever in love? Filippyevna retorts that love had nothing to do with it – she was led to the altar at the age of thirteen. Declaring that she is in love, Tatyana asks for pen and paper and sends the nurse away.
Alone, Tatyana pours out a torrent of feelings, anxieties and hopes in a passionate love-letter. As the sound of a shepherd’s pipe heralds the dawn, she tells the nurse to deliver the letter to Onegin.
Scene 3
A corner of the Larins’ garden
Peasant girls are singing as they gather berries. Onegin tells Tatyana that he cannot respond to the impetuous emotions she has expressed: love and marriage are not for him.
Act II Scene 1
A ball at the Larins’ house
Guests gather to celebrate Tatyana’s name-day. Bored by the provincial gossip, Onegin blames Lensky for inviting him: in revenge, he flirts with Olga.
A French, guest, Monsieur Triquet, sings an ode to Tatyana. Onegin insists on dancing with Olga; aroused to jealous fury, Lensky publicly challenges him to a duel. Onegin realises that he has gone too far, but it is too late.
Scene 2
A lonely spot: early morning. Winter
Zaretsky, Lensky’s second in the duel, complains that their opponent is late. Lensky meditates on his love for Olga and the prospect of death.
Onegin arrives with his servant, Monsieur Guillot, who is to act as his second. Lensky and Onegin are filled with remorse that their friendship should have come to this, but there can be no turning back. The duel proceeds: Lensky falls dead.
Act III Scene 1
A grand ball in St Petersburg. Some years later
Restless and world-weary, Onegin has returned to St Petersburg after travelling abroad. At the ball he meets an old friend, Prince Gremin, a retired general; the Prince introduces his wife, whom Onegin is astonished to recognise as Tatyana. Gremin tells him that his love for her has transformed his life.
Onegin realises that he has fallen desperately in love with Tatyana.
Scene 2
A room in Prince Gremin’s palace
Tatyana has received a love-letter from Onegin. When he throws himself at her feet, Tatyana reminds him that he once rejected her, and accuses him of loving her for her influence at court, or for the frisson of scandal that an affair would bring. As he pours out his passion, she at last admits to still loving him, but it is too late: she will not compromise her husband, and leaves Onegin to his fate.
© Jonathan Burton
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