Sydney Opera House
May 1
John Cranko’s balletic adaptation of Alexander Pushkin’s distinctively Russian verse novel, Eugene Onegin, has a lot going for it. The costumes and sets by Jurgen Rose are beautiful. The music, put together specifically for the ballet by Kurt-Heinz Stolze from disparate pieces of music by Tchaikovsky, is melodic and impassioned and surprisingly cohesive. The story of unrequited love (or, to be more precise, love which is requited far too late in the day to result in anything other than tragedy) has a pathos that is comparable with iconic ballets of the Romantic era, such as Giselle. But Onegin’s greatest strength for both performers and audience is in the four main roles, which offer a depth of characterisation to those dancers who are fortunate enough to be cast in them.
On opening night Andrew Killian as Eugene Onegin used his elegant line to accentuate the character’s aristocratic bearing while his youthful appearance and slim build marked him as a young man led astray by his sense of superiority. Onegin is often a difficult character with which to sympathise, as his presence at Tatiana and Olga’s country home precipitates the ensueing tragic events. But Killian’s interpretation was not irredeemably cold and unfeeling. While his flickers of compassion in the first two acts were not enough to overcome his arrogance at the time, in the third act they gave a real sincerity to his complete change of heart.
Killian towered over Madeleine Eastoe as Tatiana: their difference in height accentuated her fragility and their difference in social standing. In the first act Eastoe successfully contrasted Tatiana’s shy reserve in public with the abandon and energy of the Mirror pas de deux when Onegin, the object of her infatuation, appears and dances with her in a dream that illustrates the overwhelming power of her imagination.
Leanne Stojmenov, a born soubrette if ever there was one, was an excellent fit for Tatiana’s sister Olga. She performed with an engaging vibrancy, reaching a peak in Act 2, conveying an exuberant flirtatiousness followed by despair at her fiancées death. As her paramour Lensky, Kevin Jackson didn’t really get a chance to shine until his solo in Act 2, where he displayed a fluid, expressive control and expansive lines that reached out past the footlights.
It’s a small detail but Act 1 was marred slightly by some very noisy pointe shoes on the feet of an ensemble of neighbourhood girls. The dancers were good in every other respect but the sound of their landings, particularly those on one leg, somewhat undermined the delicacy of their movement. Some sound is inevitable, but in this case it made it difficult to hear the detail of the music. Perhaps the dancers need to wear softer shoes or control the landings through their feet more.
All in all, it was a pleasure to see Onegin return to the Australian Ballet’s repertoire after an absence of 16 years. John Cranko is renowned for his story ballets and they remain as relevant and meaningful in the 21st century as they when this was first staged in 1965.
- GERALDINE HIGGINSON