Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.On February 23 2022, Russian conductor Valery Gergiev opened a new production of Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame at La Scala. It would be his last performance in the west to date. Hours later, Vladimir Putin, of whom Gergiev is a staunch ally, launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. When the conductor refused to denounce the war, La Scala swiftly cancelled his remaining appearances. His young compatriot Timur Zangiev stepped in to complete the run.Now, with the war’s third anniversary looming, Zangiev has returned to Milan for another Tchaikovsky opera. Opening at a time when wavering US support for Ukraine has spurred calls for greater European resolve against Putin’s aggression, La Scala’s new production of Eugene Onegin has been framed by the theatre as a testament to its enduring commitment to Russian music. In comments released ahead of the opening night, the production’s director Mario Martone suggested that, in the current geopolitical context, the fractured relationship at the heart of the opera speaks of an ongoing rift between Russian and European culture.The performance itself powerfully harnessed Tchaikovsky’s passions and drama. In a transposition that fits the composer’s adaptation of Pushkin like a glove, Martone shifts the setting from 19th-century estates and ballrooms to a modern Russia evocative of the Soviet Union’s twilight years. Act one’s blue-skied steppes are filled with vigorous gopnik dancers and gleeful villagers in headscarves and summer shirts knotted at the waist. In contrast, Tatyana cuts an introspective, lonely figure. Her home, a tiny concrete block amid golden wheat fields, contains nothing but stacks of grey books. No wonder the arrival of the red-blooded, besuited Onegin so overwhelmingly lights up her world.The staging follows a trajectory from light to darkness as death and heartbreak infuse the drama. The second act unfolds against a bleak wintry backdrop, dominated by a lateral grandstand. Blending realism with symbolism, Martone toggles between public spectacle and private turmoil. Tatyana’s home explodes as her sister Olga’s fiancé Lensky, enraged by Onegin’s flirtation with his future wife, challenges him to a duel, reimagined here as a game of Russian roulette. A crushed Onegin’s final plea to win back Tatyana years later takes place on a black, empty stage, underlining his dejection.But the real lifeblood of this performance was the mostly Russian cast. Making her operatic debut at La Scala as Tatyana, Aida Garifullina imbued her slender lyric voice with such purity and introspection that watching her first stirrings of romance felt almost voyeuristic. Armed with a hulking voice, baritone Alexey Markov portrayed Onegin with a mix of gruff swagger, heedlessness and — ultimately — howling despair.As Lensky, Olga’s suitor, Dmitry Korchak filled the theatre with his virile tenor voice, as thrilling in his maddened declarations of love as his bloodthirsty challenge to Onegin. Azerbaijani mezzo-soprano Elmina Hasan’s youthfully ardent Olga was more than Korchak’s match. Other standouts included Julia Gertseva’s rough-hewn yet astute Filipyevna and Alisa Kolosova’s richly sung Larina. La Scala’s chorus packed a punch as peasants, boozy revellers and uniformed military officers.Zangiev’s conducting balanced idiomatic earthiness, underpinned by inky lower strings and refulgent brass, with polished refinement that ensured the singers were never smothered. Still, his approach often left you yearning for greater bite when passions boiled over. It was a far cry from the feral intensity Gergiev once unleashed in La Scala performances of Russian works.★★★★☆To March 11, teatroallascala.org
