Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u00a0Zangiev stepped in to complete the run.Now, with the war\u2019s 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\u2019s aggression, La Scala\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019s passions and drama. In a transposition that fits the composer\u2019s 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\u2019s twilight years. Act one\u2019s 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\u2019s home explodes as her sister Olga\u2019s fianc\u00e9 Lensky, enraged by Onegin\u2019s flirtation with his future wife, challenges him to a duel, reimagined here as a game of Russian roulette. A crushed Onegin\u2019s 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 \u2014 ultimately \u2014 howling despair.As Lensky, Olga\u2019s 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\u2019s youthfully ardent Olga was more than Korchak\u2019s match. Other standouts included Julia Gertseva\u2019s rough-hewn yet astute Filipyevna and Alisa Kolosova\u2019s richly sung Larina. La Scala\u2019s chorus packed a punch as peasants, boozy revellers and uniformed military officers.Zangiev\u2019s 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.\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606To March 11, teatroallascala.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s 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\u2019s Pique Dame at La Scala. It would be his last performance in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":214485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-214484","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214484"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":214486,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214484\/revisions\/214486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}