The Particularities of the Stage Interpretations of Piotr Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” Directed by Eugene Aryeh in the Production of the Bolshoi Theater (2019)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the phenomenon of the art of contemporary opera, in which a special
role is carried out by the masterpieces of the Russian musical culture – Tchaikovsky’s operas.
By the example of Eugene Aryeh’s production of the opera “Eugene Onegin” the techniques
of deconstruction of the figurative-semantic element of the performance and introductions of
polystilistic elements into the choreography of the mass scenes, both of them characteristic for the
postmodernist type of stage production are generalized. The tendencies of convergence of the opera
masterpiece, leading to the vulgarization of the artistic image and the redundancy of kitsch in the
folk-based protagonist are revealed. The article defines the disputability of certain artistic solutions
of some opera productions and, along with this, the effectiveness of separate provocative elements
of the stage action bringing together the cultural worlds of various epochs activating the process
of perception.
The materials for the research have been provided by the video recordings from the premiere
demonstration of the opera “Eugene Onegin” on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater, as well as texts in
periodical editions containing interviews with the opera producer and the leading artists.

Keywords: Eugene Aryeh, opera “Eugene Onegin,” Tchaikovsky, Bolshoi Theater, stage
interpretation, opera production.