Royal Opera

20th March 2008

When Paul Whelan was called upon to sing the role of Raimondo Lucia di Lammermoor from the side of the stage while scheduled performer Clive Bayley acted, it was all over the papers. “The man from the audience who sang in the opera,” the papers all said, most of them ignoring the fact that Paul Whelan was not only Bayley’s official understudy, he was supposed to be signing some of the performances as well.

When Mark Stone came onto the stage to support the indisposed Gerald Finley in the final scene of the ROH’s Eugene Onegin, it didn’t seem to create nearly as much interest. Stone appears not to be the official understudy – the singer who is replacing Finley in subsequent performances has been brought in from Europe. The fact that it is necessary to look all over the world in order to find a singer of Finley’s calibre is not altogether surprising – but Stone, who was between performances of Bach’s St Matthew Passion in Spain and Northern England at the time, was certainly a lot more than adequate.

Gerald Finley was rightly very highly praised for his first Onegin at English National Opera; reviews of the opening night of the ROH production suggest he has done the impossible and got even better. At the performance I attended, he understandably sang with a certain caution, and the very challenging role was clearly not as easy for him as it should have been. But Finley still gave a great performance. His strong musical understanding of the role was clear; his phrasing was, despite his limitations, thrilling to listen to – and he’s one of the finest actors in opera. Onegin is a very difficult character to play. He’s cold and haughty on the outside, but there is still something about him that attracts Tatyana, Lensky and, later, Olga – all quite different characters. Gremin, too greets him with affection at the end. I’ve seen some very well-performed Onegins, but none of them have really brought the character into such a cohesive – and, yes, loveable - whole as Gerald Finley has. Even though unwell, all this was evident in Finley’s performance.

But it was a relief in some ways when Mark Stone appeared at the side of the stage in the final scene. Finley was magnificent, but it was difficult not to worry about him - many singers have damaged their voices permanently by singing when not vocally fully fit. And Stone was fantastic. It can’t have been easy for him or Finley, but they worked really well together. Stone sang very beautifully – I’d love to hear him performing the complete role one day. He certainly sings the final scene with great passion, and his many performances at the ENO have shown he certainly has the acting ability to make at least some sense of Onegin. If he’s not quite in Finley’s class now, he will be in time, and I would say he’s ready to be singing leading roles for the Royal Opera.

Finley and Stone both gave heroic performances in more ways than one, but the other performers in Eugene Onegin must not be forgotten. The wonderful Marina Poplavskaya, a former Jette Parker Young Artist, is one of two sopranos singing the role of Tatyana. She has a gorgeous voice, ideal for Tatyana’s passionate music, and she communicates Tatyana’s shyness and awkwardness very effectively. Perhaps she holds back a little in the Letter Scene, but she has a more difficult task than most Tatyanas in that there is no interval between Acts Two and Three, so a certain reticence is probably advisable. Also, even though Tatyana uses wildly passionate language in her letter to Onegin, she is still the same girl as she is in the Rejection Scene and Act Two. So the slight reserve Poplavskaya brings to this scene serves to remind us that this letter is very much out of character for Tatyana. We can be caught up in her love for Onegin, but we can’t forget that even if her dreams come true, there will still be a challenge for a girl with such serious social inhibitions.

However, it was in her final scene that we saw the best of Poplavskaya. She showed us glimpses of the old Tatyana through her new poise and elegance, but there is a very real feeling that Tatyana has changed. There was no danger that Poplavskaya’s Tatyana might succumb, but it was no less of a tragedy, for all that. The sweet, idealistic, dreamy Tatyana has gone. It might have been the more mature Tatyana that Onegin fell in love with, but it is the old Tatyana’s music that he is singing as he declares his love.

Lensky and Olga are also very strongly sung. I’ve never seen Piotr Beczala singing a character I like before, so it was only at this performance that I realised how adorable he can be. It was a really lovely performance, sweetly sung, and there was a real vulnerability in him, even when he floored Onegin – and Olga - during the fight at Tatyana’s party. Ekaterina Semenchuk’s Olga is childish and very silly, but I always prefer the Olgas who don’t really seem to understand the damage they are causing. Semenchuk’s powerful low notes are also very exciting. There seem to be few mezzos who are truly comfortable with Olga’s tessitura, and almost no young contraltos.

Diana Montague is excellent too: Madame Larina has relatively little to do, but characterisation is just one of Montague’s strengths. Elizabeth Sikora hit Filipyevna’s low notes beautifully, and gave the opera some welcome but wholly appropriate humour, while Robin Leggate was a delightdully camp Monsieur Triquet. Hans-Peter Konig’s Gremin was stodgy and his aria seemed too long, but that’s the problem with this character (even though I love the aria out of context), and it was beautifully sung. Jette Parker Young Artist Vuyani Mlinde and Chorus member Jonathan Fisher also did well as Zaretsky and the Captain, and (yes, Hairy) another Chorus member, the Scottish tenor Elliot Goldie, sounded really lovely as the Peasant.

The Chorus was in exceptionally fine voice at this performance, and Jiri Belohiavek gave a passionate reading of the score. The slowing-down of the music during Onegin and Lensky’s argument worked really well – just like a bad dream. The whole performance was gorgeous – I’m looking forward to seeing Hibla Gerzmava’s Tatyana, Sarah Pring’s Madame Larina and (fingers crossed) a fully fit Gerald Finley later in the run.

Cunning Little Vixen

primi-divi at hotmail.co.uk