United Kingdom Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin (arr. Orlando Jopling, sung in English translation by Siofra Dromgoole): Soloists, The Wild Arts Ensemble / Otis Lineham (conductor). (conductor). Thaxted Parish Church, Essex, 12.7.2025. (CC)

Tchaikovsky’s sequence of ‘lyric scenes’ in three acts, Eugene Onegin, is exactly that: each scene has its own tinta and which zooms in on the emotions of the main characters: and, for Tchaikovsky, it was surely Tatyana who is at the core of Tchaikovsky’s retelling of Pushkin (the libretto is by the composer and Konstantin Shilovsky). Certainly, Tatyana’s ‘Letter Scene’ is crucial, dramatically and musically. The piece is a sequence of tableaux, and the orchestra’s colour is crucial. It is testament to the arrangement for chamber ensemble here, then, that the evening worked so well (if not scoring the complete bull’s eye of Wild Arts’s Donizetti L’elisir at Thaxted in 2023).
Tchaikovsky’s piece is open-hearted, and, for the singers, open-throated: so a reduction to two violins, viola, cello, double bass, oboe, flute, clarinet, bassoon and horn might seem a step in miniature too far. And, yes, for the big moments, this was inevitably slimline Tchaikovsky; but the advantage was a new appreciation of Tchaikovsky’s linear workings. Individual instrumental performances ranged from the meltingly expressive to the valiant; a larger problem was placement. The Wild Arts Ensemble was to the side, and there is a large pillar the singers have to negotiate to retain a clear sightline; also, when a chorus of ladies entered from the opposite side of the church, it did rather feel the distance was too great, and the ensemble suffered.
Against that was the sensitive conducting of Otis Lineham, ever moving the music along, demonstrating a fine knowledge of Tchaikovsky’s inner workings.
Dominic Dromgoole’s staging was neutral and minimal, allowing the music to speak for the drama; only the Banquo-like re-appearance of Lensky in the third act (so, posthumously) seemed interventionalist (Lensky’s role does seem to invite twists: in Ted Huffman’s production, seen at Covent Garden, Lensky tuns the pistol on himself, and commits suicide). A wooden window frame on a pole offered a sense of indoor versus outdoor via the most frugal of means. Some costumes suggested Russian peasantry of Tchaikovsky’s or Pushkin’s time; others were less specific. The top hats for Onegin and Lensky brought back memories of Nikolaus Lehnhoff’s staging of the opera; wooden benches were moved into different shapes by the cast.
The principal characters are mainly young in the story, and are certainly taken by emotions of the moment, be that impulsive passion or the need to duel. Good that this cast was young, therefore, and certainly ardent. That certainly applied to the Lensky of Xavier Hetherington, a tenor whose dynamic range seems. to lie firmly around forte/fortissimo: There is no doubting Hetherington’s vocal power. (Hetherington recently sang the title role in Jonathan Dove’s Itch at Opera Holland Park). Onegin, baritone Timothy Nelson, was musically far more nuanced, but his stage presence is still to be fully developed. That said, I still feel it was my loss to have missed out on his Belcore in English National Opera’s The Elixir of Love towards the end of last year when he did not sing the night I was there. His final act aria in which he laments his lot was certainly touching.
And what of Tatyana? For that Wild Arts Elixir of yesteryear, Galina Avelina sang Adina; Tatyana is a very different role, and while Avelina’s Letter Scene was perfectly fine, I did not quite believe her emotions there; her voice is, however, impressive when she opens up; and she was fine in the music’s more animated moments. Her diction, too, was notably fine, and her angst became increasingly believable as the story progressed.
As Olga, mezzo-soprano Emily Hodkinson made a real impression (I see Hodkinson has also sung Larina in this opera for OHP in 2022). Hodkinson’s voice is full, clear and strong; notably, she shone just as much in duet with Tatyana early on as she did in her own aria, an ensemble singer as well as soloist. I would very much like to hear more of her.
One of the finest role assumptions of the night was Sion Goronwy’s Prince Gremin. A true bass who has been Snug A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Swallow Peter Grimes multiple times on the world’s stages, his voice is a pleasure to experience, rounded, large, nuanced. His final act aria, one of the highlights of Tchaikovsky’s score, ‘Lyubvi vse vozrasty pokorny’ in the original (here, I believe, ‘The gift of love cannot be measured’) served as also one of the musical highlights of the evening.
As Triquet, Robert Burt offered masses of character to his contributions, delivered with easy expertise. Talking of the smaller roles, one always hopes for a discovery. The Egyptian soprano Laura Mekhail, a recent graduate of the Royal College of Music, was both a fine actress and has a beautiful, clear voice; it was no surprise to learn she was also the cover for Tatyana. She is also a Wild Arts Young Artist for 2025; she is joined in this by Alex Pratley, who sang a solid Zaretsky. Mezzo-soprano Hannah Sandison was superb as Madame Larina, commanding of presence and beautiful of tone.
But above and beyond all that is the fact that Onegin offers plenty of ensemble scenes, and Wild Arts acts as a collective rather than a collection of starry individuals. This is its greatest strength; and, despite the odd co-ordination problem, the actual managing of choruses in this smaller format was imaginatively handled. Fringe opera by its very nature fosters invention, often as a result of smaller budgets (one needs only to think of the recent Bethnal Green Ring). Wild Arts seems to flourish on challenge; its Onegin counts as a notable success.
Colin Clarke
Production:
Director – Dominic Dromgoole
Designer – Tatiana Dolmatovskaya
Movement director – Siân Williams
Cast:
Eugene Onegin – Timothy Nelson
Tatyana – Galina Avelina
Lensky – Xavier Hetherington
Olga – Emily Hodkinson
Prince Gremin – Sion Goronwy
Madame Larina – Hannah Sandison
Filipyevna – Rozanna Mandylus
Monsieur Triquet – Robert Burt
Zaretsky – Alex Pratley
Katerina – Laura Mekhail