Metropolitan Opera Live airs ‘Eugene Onegin’ at O’Shaughnessy Center

Whitefish Theatre Company, in collaboration with the Whitefish Performing Arts Center, presents “Eugene Onegin” as the seventh opera in the 2025-2026 live streaming season of the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD.  

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s romantic masterpiece will be shown on Saturday, May 2 at 11 a.m. at the O’Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish. Approximate run time is 4 hours and 5 minutes including two intermissions. Tickets are sold only at the door, which will open at 10:30 am. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students, paid by cash or check only. Stipends are available for students. 

Sung in Russian with subtitles, “Eugene Onegin” is a timeless meditation on love, loss, regret, and the consequences of our choices. When Eugene Onegin enters Tatiana's life, it is love at first sight as he appears like a character from her novels. But he coldly rejects her and flirts with her sister, Olga, instead, resulting in a deadly duel with his trusted friend, Lenski. Years later, the two meet again, however, the mature Tatiana has entered into a marriage of convenience with the much older and much wealthier Prince Gremin. Tortured with guilt and remorse, Onegin is shocked to realize that Tatiana would have been the right one for him after all. Lush orchestrations, elegant ballroom dances, grand sets, and elaborate period costumes bring 1800s Russia to life in Tchaikovsky’s achingly beautiful yet tragic storyline. 

The libretto or lyrics of “Eugene Onegin” closely follows passages in Alexander Pushkin’s 1837 novel-in-verse of the same name that is considered a classic of Russian literature. Retaining much of Pushkin’s poetry, it debuted in 1879 and marked a turning point in Russian opera, abandoning spectacular effects to paint a more intimate portrait of a small group of characters. “Eugene Onegin” is also a well-known example of a lyric opera, to which Tchaikovsky added richly layered and unabashedly expressive music. Warm, heartfelt melodies, dramatic, seductive orchestral music, and buoyant dance numbers punctuate the work, and the vocal solos are among the most striking in the opera repertory. 

Following her acclaimed 2024 company debut in Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”, soprano Asmik Grigorian returns to the Met as Tatiana, the lovestruck young heroine. Baritone Iurii Samoilov is the urbane Onegin, who realizes his affection for her all too late. The cast also includes mezzo-soprano Maria Barkova as Olga, tenor Stanislas de Babeyrac as Lenski, and bass-baritone Alexander Tsymbalyuk as Prince Gremin. The Met’s evocative production, directed by Tony Award–winner Deborah Warner and conducted by Timur Zangiev, offers a beautifully detailed reading of Tchaikovsky’s lyrical romance. 

The Live in HD experience offers exclusive behind-the-scenes content and cast interviews. Food and beverage will be available for purchase during the performance.  

For more information visit whitefishtheatreco.org or call 406-862-5371.