Eugene Onegin Is Met Opera's April 2, 2022, Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: Eugene Onegin is Met Opera's April 2, 2022, Saturday matinee broadcast, numbering 14 of 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts in the 2021-2022 season.

James Gaffigan's conductorship of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin in the 2021-2022 season marks the American conductor's first performances since his 2018-2019 season Met Opera debut in Puccini's La Bohème; his March and April 2020 conductorship of Rossini's La Cenerentola was cancelled by Met Opera's late 2019-2020 season, coronavirus-imposed shutdown: James Gaffigan @jamesgaffigan, via Twitter Feb. 24, 2021

Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin is Met Opera's April 2, 2022, Saturday matinee broadcast, airing as the 14th of the 2021-2022 season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts.

Eugene Onegin by Russian late Romantic era composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (May 7, 1840-Nov. 6, 1893) receives six performances in the 2021-2022 season. The first performance took place Friday, March 25, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The second through sixth, closing performances are scheduled for Tuesday, March 29, at 7:00 p.m.; Saturday, April 2, at 1:00 p.m.; Thursday, April 7, at 7:00 p.m.; Sunday, April 10, at 3:00 p.m.; and Thursday, April 14, at 7:30 p.m.

The 2021-2022 season's staging of Eugene Onegin numbers as the second revival of the new Met Opera production debuted by Deborah Warner in the 2013-2014 season. The new production's opening night, Monday, Sep. 23, 2013, marked the British theatre and opera director's Met Opera debut. The production's first revival occurred in the 2016-2017 season.

Deborah Warner's production team includes Tom Pye, set designer; Chloe Obolensky, costume designer; Ian William Galloway and Finn Ross, projection designers; and Kim Brandstrup, choreographer. Tom Pye, Chloe Obolensky, Ian William Galloway and Finn Ross all made their Met Opera debut Sep. 23, 2013, alongside the production's director.

The production's lighting design is credited to Jean Kalman. The French lighting designer had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, March 13, 1997, in Robert Carsen's new staging of Eugene Onegin, which debuted Thursday, March 13, 1997, in the opera's 104th performance at the opera house.

Kim Brandstrup is the production's choreographer. The Danish-born, British-based choreographer had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Feb. 7, 1994, in the opera house's 10th performance of Death in Venice by Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (Nov. 22, 1913-Dec. 4, 1976).

James Gaffigan conducts the production's second revival. The American conductor made his Metropolitan Opera debut Tuesday, Sep. 25, 2018, in the opera house’s 1,321st performance of La Bohème by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924).

Igor Golovatenko sings the title role of a directionless young man who realizes too late the sad consequences of his frivolous pursuits. The Russian baritone had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Nov. 29, 2019, as Prince Yeletsky in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades.

Ailyn Pérez originally was scheduled for all six performances to sing Tatiana, whose maturity convinces her to choose her husband, Prince Gremin, over Eugene Onegin's tardy reciprocity of love. The American operatic soprano had made her Metropolitan Opera debut Friday, Feb. 6, 2015, as Micaëla in the opera company’s 994th performance of Carmen by French Romantic Era composer Georges Bizet (Oct. 25, 1838-June 3, 1875).

Update: The Metropolitan Opera announced, via Twitter Thursday, April 7, 2022, at 2:13 p.m., the replacement of Ailyn Pérez with Marjukka Tepponen as the evening's Tatiana. The Finnish soprano's April 7 appearance as Tatiana marks her Met Opera debut.

Piotr Beczala sings the 2021-2022 season's rashly jealous, poetic Lenski as his first reprisal of the role from the production's debut season 2013-2014. The Polish operatic tenor had made his Met Opera debut Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006, as the Duke of Mantua in the opera company’s 814th performance of Rigoletto by 19th century Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin numbers as the second of two Saturday matinee opera broadcasts in the 2021-2022 season for Piotr Beczala. He had reprised his Met Opera debut role of the Duke of Mantua in the Jan. 29 Saturday matinee opera broadcast of Verdi's Rigoletto.

Ain Anger sings Prince Gremin, whose marriage to Tatiana survives the love triangle of his loving Tatiana, whose love for Eugene Onegin finally is reciprocated. The Estonian operatic bass had made his Met Opera debut Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021, as monk Pimen in the opera company's 274th performance of Boris Godunov by Russian Romantic Era composer Modest Mussorgsky (March 21, 1839-March 28, 1881).

Eugene Onegin numbers as the second of two Saturday matinee opera broadcasts in the 2021-2022 season for Ain Anger. He sang Pimen in the Feb. 19 Saturday matinee opera broadcast of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov.

Eugene Onegin's first performance, Friday, March 25, 2022, in the 2021-2022 season numbers as the opera's 156th performance at the opera house and occurs 102 years and one day after the opera's United States premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House. Eugene Onegin's United States premiere took place Wednesday, March 24, 1920. The opera, which was sung in Italian, received five performances in the 1919-1920 season.

The takeaways for Eugene Onegin as Met Opera's April 2, 2022, Saturday matinee broadcast are that Tchaikovsky's opera about frivolity's losses schedules as the 14th of the 2021-2022 season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts; that the opera stages in the 2021-2022 season as the second revival of the 2013-2014 season's new Eugene Onegin production by Deborah Warner; that Piotr Beczala makes his first reprisal of the role of Lenski from the new production's debut season; and that the Saturday matinee broadcast numbers as the second of two Saturday matinee opera broadcasts in the 2021-2022 season for Piotr Beczala and Ain Anger.

In the 2021-2022 season, Piotr Beczala makes his first reprisal as Lenski from the 2013-2014 season's new production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin by Deborah Warner: Tyler Barton @TylerBarton27, via Twitter April 18, 2021

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dedication

This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:

James Gaffigan's conductorship of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin in the 2021-2022 season marks the American conductor's first performances since his 2018-2019 season Met Opera debut in Puccini's La Bohème; his March and April 2020 conductorship of Rossini's La Cenerentola was cancelled by Met Opera's late 2019-2020 season, coronavirus-imposed shutdown: James Gaffigan @jamesgaffigan, via Twitter Feb. 24, 2021, @ https://twitter.com/jamesgaffigan/status/1364635888932839430

In the 2021-2022 season, Piotr Beczala makes his first reprisal as Lenski from the 2013-2014 season's new production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin by Deborah Warner: Tyler Barton @TylerBarton27, via Twitter April 18, 2021, @ https://twitter.com/TylerBarton27/status/1383818612796846092/

For further information:

"Debut: Marjukka Tepponen." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357617 Eugene Onegin {159} Metropolitan Opera House: 04/07/2022.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357617

“Debuts: Ailyn Pérez, Gábor Bretz.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 355797 Carmen {994} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/06/2015.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=355797

"Debuts: Deborah Warner, Fiona Shaw, Tom Pye, Chloe Obolensky, Ian William Galloway, Finn Ross." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 355023 New Production Eugene Onegin {136} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/23/2013.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=355023

“Debuts: James Gaffigan, Nicole Car, Etienne Dupuis.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356999 La Bohème {1321} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/25/2018.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356999

"Debuts: Karin von Aroldingen, Jeffrey Edwards, Clare Gormley, Emily Pulley, Anton Pankevich, Gregory Mercer, Eduardo Valdes, Michelle DeYoung, Buck Collins, Victoria Litherland, Marianne Cornetti, Kristine Jepson, Elizabeth Bishop, Kim Brandstrup, David Piper." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 315310 New Production Death in Venice {10} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/7/1994.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=315310

"Debuts: Marianna Tarassova, Irina Arkhipova, Antonio Pappano, Robert Carsen, Michael Levine, Jean Kalman, Serge Bennathan." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 327650 New Production Eugene Onegin {104} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/13/1997.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=327650

“Debuts: Piotr Beczala, Kate Aldrich.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 351731 Rigoletto {814} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/19/2006.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=351731

"Debuts: Vasily Petrenko, Lise Davidsen, Igor Golovatenko, Patrick Cook, Mané Galoyan." MetOpera Database > [Met Debuts: James Gaffigan, Nicole Car, Etienne Dupuis.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356999 La Bohème {1321} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/25/2018.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356999

"Debuts: Vasily Petrenko, Lise Davidsen, Igor Golovatenko, Patrick Cook, Mané Galoyan." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357330 The Queen of Spades {72} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/29/2019..
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357330

James Gaffigan @gaffigan. "Well, this is the third time I rehearsed an opera production through the dress rehearsal and closed right before opening night. First the Met, then Paris Opera and now Valencia. It’s very sad but what’s most important is our safety. I miss sharing music with the public." Facebook. Jan. 23, 2021.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/gaffigan/posts/244515317268468

James Gaffigan @jamesgaffigan. "On this day, one year ago I took this picture of my cast right before break of a rehearsal for La Cenerentola ⁦@MetOpera. @TaraErraught @tenorjcamarena." Twitter. Feb. 24, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/jamesgaffigan/status/1364635888932839430

Marriner, Derdriu. "La Cenerentola Is the March 21, 2020, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast." Earth and space News. Monday, March 16, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/03/la-cenerentola-is-march-21-2020-met.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Met Opera's 2021-2022 Season Has 28 Saturday Matinee Broadcasts." Earth and Space News. Monday, Nov. 22, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/11/met-operas-2021-2022-season-has-28.html

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "In tonight’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Marjukka Tepponen makes her Met debut in the role of Tatiana. #CastChange." Twitter. April 7, 2022.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/1512131568285982727

"New Production: Eugene Onegin." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 355023 New Production Eugene Onegin {136} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/23/2013. Metropolitan Opera Radio Sirius XM channel 74 Broadcast live Streamed at metopera.org Plazacast/Times Squarecast. Opening Night {129} Peter Gelb, General Manager.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=355023

"Season Cancellation." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357448 Season Cancellation March 12-May 9, 2020. Metropolitan Opera House: 03/12/2020.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357448

Tyler Barton @TylerBarton27. "I am excited about this Eugene Onegin with @ailynperezsop, Igor Golovatenko, and Piotr Beczala." Twitter. April 18, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/TylerBarton27/status/1383818612796846092/

"United States Stage Premiere: Eugene Onegin." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 74580 United States Stage Premiere Eugene Onegin {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/24/1920. In Italian.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=74580