EUGENE ONEGIN Opens this Sunday at Lyric Opera of Chicago

An unforgettable romantic story of unrequited love and its unintended consequences returns to Lyric Opera of Chicago Feb. 26 -Mar. 20 for eight performances. For those who know Tchaikovsky's ballets Nutcracker and Swan Lake but not his operas,Eugene Onegin is a wonder and revelation. The glorious music brings Pushkin's poetic tale to life brilliantly in a beautiful production with a terrific international cast.

Eugene Onegin opens this Sunday afternoon at Lyric's Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago. Tickets are available now atlyricopera.org/eugene-onegin or at 312-827-5600. This is the eighth and final main-stage opera of Lyric's 2016/17 season.

Ana María Martínez is Tatiana Larina, the impressionable country girl who falls in love with the sophisticated Eugene Onegin, portrayed byMariusz Kwiecie?. She writes him a passionate love letter, which he rejects, offering her brotherly friendship instead. His flirtation with her sister Olga (Alisa Kolosova/American operatic debut) at a party leads to Onegin being challenged to a duel by his best friend and Olga's fiancé, the hotheaded Lensky (Charles Castronovo). Tragedy ensues and years pass; the remorseful Onegin returns to St. Petersburg, where he encounters Tatiana, now married to Prince Gremin (Dmitry Belosselskiy). Onegin now deluges her with passionate letters. Can he rekindle the love he'd rejected earlier? (Additional roles include the girls' mother Mme. Larina/Katharine Goeldner, their nanny Filipyevna/Jill Grove, and their tutor Triquet/Keith Jameson. )

Alejo Pérez (Lyric debut) conducts. Paula Suozzi is the revival director of the production originally directed by Robert Carsen and designed by Michael Levine, with lighting designed by Christine Binder. Michael Black is chorus master and Serge Bennathan is choreographer.

The Music Information Summary for Lyric's production of Eugene Onegin can be found here.

Production images from Eugene Onegin available for download below.

Performance dates are February 26 and March 1 at 2pm; and March 4, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 20 at 7:30pm. For tickets and information call (312) 827-5600 or go to lyricopera.org/onegin.

Estimated running time is 3 hours and 10 minutes with one intermission. Eugene Onegin will be performed in Russian with projectEd English translations.

The opening performance of Eugene Onegin can be heard live locally on 98.7WFMT and globally on wfmt.com, beginning at 1:45pm on February 26. Listeners will have access to line-by-line translations in real time online at lyricoperalive.org.

Photo Credit: Todd Rosenberg