WNO Stages EUGENE ONEGIN At KenCen Opera House

With dances, duels, and orchestration delights, Washington National Opera brings the emotional and melodic Eugene Onegin back to the Kennedy Center Opera House after a more than 30-year absence from its repertoire. Eugene Onegin is a multi-faceted masterpiece combining the artistic prowess of two Russian luminaries: Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky's music and libretto based on Alexander Pushkin's celebrated poem. A tale of rejection and regret, Eugene Onegin explores a society divided between rural austerity and aristocratic extravagance as maturity shifts desires-once devastated by his refusal of her youthful affections, Tatiana rebuffs Onegin's newfound proposal upon his return years later. Complete with lush period costumes and majestic ballroom scenes,Eugene Onegin is performed in Russian with projected English titles. Performances run March 9-29 with tickets starting at $45.

Two lead soloists with the Bolshoi Opera make their highly-anticipated American and WNO debuts with baritone Igor Golovatenko in the title role as the bored aristocrat and Anna Nechaeva as the young but strong Tatiana. Golovatenko has quickly made a name for himself on both the concert and operatic stages since his debut in the 2006 Russian premiere of Delius's Eine Messe des Lebens with the Russian National Philharmonic Orchestra, plus other appearances at Glyndebourne and Bayerische Staatsoper; his debut at LA Opera is scheduled this summer.

With a career featuring nearly 30 lead roles in productions for the Bolshoi Opera, Nechaeva makes these important debuts Stateside in a role she's also taken to Festival d'Aix en Provence and the Savonlinna Opera Festival.

In his WNO debut, American conductor Robert Trevino leads the WNO Orchestra; he studied with David Zinman at the Aspen Music Festival and Michael Tilson Thomas at the New World Symphony before bursting onto the international scene. Trevino was recently named MusicalAmerica's Artist of the Month for October 2018 and the new Chief Conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra. Returning to helm this production is Peter McClintock, an assistant director at the Met for more than 30 years with directorial appearances on opera stages worldwide. Local audiences last saw McClintock direct Saint-Saëns's Samson et Dalila in 2005 and Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades in 2002 in the Kennedy Center Opera House.

The creative team for Eugene Onegin also features set and costume designer Michael Levine (WNO debut), lighting designer Christine Binder, choreographer Serge Bennathan (WNO debut), and hair and make-up designer David Zimmerman. This production was originally created for the Metropolitan Opera by director Robert Carsen.

The opera's running time is approximately three hours and 36 minutes, plus one 25-minute intermission, and runs for six performances. Visit WNO's website for more information.

Washington National Opera's 2018-2019 season continues with Gounod's devilishly entertaining Faust (March 16-30, 2019) and Puccini's towering masterpiece Tosca (May 11-25, 2019), as well as a special Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist performance A Concert of Comic Masterpieces (May 24, 2019) and other exciting vocal events. Tickets are available now.

Eugene Onegin Performance and Ticket Information

Saturday, March 9 at 7 p.m. ? Sunday, March 17 at 2 p.m.

Wednesday, March 20 at 7:30 p.m. ? Saturday, March 23 at 7 p.m.

Monday, March 25 at 7 p.m. ? Friday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets start at $45 and are available online, in person at the Kennedy Center Box Office, and by calling (202) 467-4600 or (800) 444-1324. Groups of 10 or more receive discounts up to 25% forEugene Onegin purchases. For all other ticket-related customer service inquiries, call the Advance Sales Box Office at (202) 416-8540.

Patrons 30 and under and active-duty members of the military are invited to join the Kennedy Center's MyTix program for special discount offers and chances to win free tickets. MyTix discounts will be available for select performances. For more information, visit kennedy-center.org/mytix

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