"Eugene Onegin," the most popular of Tchaikovsky's operas, is widely considered a theatrical masterpiece. Adapted from a novel in verse form by Aleksandr Pushkin, it is the tale of a jaded Russian aristocrat who scores the love of Tatyana, an attractive young girl of the provincial petty nobility. After years of aimless wandering, Onegin returns to St. Petersburg to find Tatyana much changed and married to a prince. Onegin falls in love, but this time she rejects "him" in favor of marital fidelity.
The theme and treatment of Pushkin's text so strongly appealed to Tchaikovsky that he devoted himself to the opera's execution with single-minded fervor, drawing the libretto from the poet's own lines as far as possible. The composer's passionate attachment to the work was undoubtedly interlocked with analogous events in his private life: at the time of the opera's creation Tchaikovsky was involved in a disastrous marriage that swiftly led to his emotional breakdown.
Today, "Eugene Onegin" is a staple of the operatic repertoire, moving audiences everywhere with its richly melodic score and imaginative orchestration. Musicians and music lovers will welcome this inexpensive high-quality edition, reprinted from an authoritative early score.