Capitole de Toulouse, 30/06/2024

 Tchaikovsky : Eugene Onegin

Chœur de l'Opéra national du Capitole

Orchestre national du Capitole

Patrick Lange

To close their 23/24 season, the Opéra national du Capitole finally staged the production of Eugene Onegin that had been programmed for 2021, in which Stéphane Degout was to sing the title role for the first time.  In the end, that first Onegin for the French baritone was heard in Brussels last winter, but at least it was now being heard as intended, and I don't think anything was lost in the wait.

Florent Siaud's production is set around 1900, and for the first two acts, on the Larin estate, the stage is split horizontally, with an interior (a cosy library, then a large salon) on the lower level, and a fairly dense, and beautifully lit forest above.  Sometimes this worked well, allowing characters to be introduced in stages, and letting characters go out for air during the country ball.  Lensky and Olga's quarrel takes place on the upper level, which made particularly good sense to me.  On the other hand, there are some incoherencies; why would all the estate workers troop into the library for that chorus and dance in the first scene?  

There were quite a few symbolic gestures, often using dancers, of which the best was certainly the duel scene, where the confrontation takes place in what looks like a wrecked version of the salon, while up above Tatiana waits in the wood, and falls, sobbing, to her knees, when the fatal shot rings out.  The implications of the damage done to the family, and the death of her love for Onegin in the same stroke, are clear.  Both of the balls were singularly unruly affairs, and choreographer Natalie van Parys's outright referencing of Bob Fosse's Rich Man's Frug in the Schottische of the last act seemed singularly inappropriate.  Still, it was a reasonably legible production, and handsome to see, well-dressed and atmospherically lit.

It would be unfair to say that Ukrainian soprano Valentina Fedeneva's Tatiana was the weak link of the cast.  She has a fine, lustrous voice with a good, smooth line and clear, unforced top notes.  She also has a good stage presence, tall, blond and elegant.  However, that queenly demeanour and the cool timbre of the voice were by some way best suited to the last act, where she really came into her own, while they somewhat distanced her from the earlier, younger, shy and innocent girl.  The Letter Scene was cleanly delivered, but never quite took off, and when Stéphane Degout repeated that music, at the end of the Act 3 ball scene, then we heard all the overwhelming passion that we should have heard from Tatiana earlier.  Degout delivered the impression of having been completely and suddenly side-swiped by emotion effortlessly and unmistakably.  

The quality of Degout's singing was never in doubt, he's unquestionably one of the finest baritones on the circuit at the moment, with a warm, even and expressive timbre, so it was more a matter of how good a fit the role would be for him.  Right at the start, Degout's Onegin came across as far too charismatic to be the blasé, self-satisfied young man he's supposed to be, but as the character is obliged to face up to his consequences, he gathered in strength and conviction, and the final duet, with Fedeneva at her absolute best, was incandescent.

Valentina Fedeneva (Tatiana) and Stéphane Degout (Onegin)
Eugene Onegin, Act 3.ii, Capitole de Toulouse
© Mirco Magliocca (2024)

The rest of the cast was thoroughly assured, starting with excellent performances from Andreas Bauer Kanabas as a very sound Prince Gremin, and an outstanding one from Norwegian tenor Bror Magnus Tødenes as Lensky.  The voice is ringingly bright, with fine dynamic control, sometimes a little acid in timbre, but again, very expressive.  The very slight quaver in the tone at the heart of his aria was quite clearly no flaw in the singing but a wholly intentional touch of poignancy.  I do think that all three men were wrestling slightly with the Russian; I've heard enough recordings with native casts to know when something's not quite as it should be, but there was no serious impediment.  

The chorus was very good in the first act, but the Act 2 ball lacked a bit of élan, both in the Waltz and the concertato ensemble.  This might have been partly because there had been a very late change of conductor, with Patrick Lange - new to this house - coming in just before the final dress rehearsal.  That the chorus, and especially the orchestra, which was on resplendent form, did as well as they did is a tribute both to the preparatory work of Lange's predecessor, and Lange's own efforts to pick up the reins and guide the team to a triumphant conclusion.

[Next : 21st September]