Russian opera makes a comeback (2)

The stage director Stepanyuk says his production is a contemporary stage director's take on this subject.

"And not just of a contemporary stage director, but of a contemporary person in general. I would like young people to discover themselves in my production," Stepanyuk says.

He says that, over hundreds of years, manners change, language changes and people's behavior changes, but the essence of humanity remains.

"So, on the one hand, I want to hear pure Russian language and see the manners, etiquette and the behavioral nuances of Pushkin's time. On the other hand, it's very important that the production is not some kind of 'historic guide'. It should be psychologically convincing and all of its characters-starting with Onegin and ending with Zaretsky-must be real people.

"Our sets and costumes are historically accurate, but this is not literal history. They are rather miserly and yet, at the same time, highly emotional. The result is a somewhat ascetic though imaginative production.

"For me personally, Tchaikovsky is closer, of course, because emotionally he has greater effect. If Pushkin's Onegin is an encyclopaedia of Russian life, then Tchaikovsky's opera is an encyclopaedia of the Russian soul. The most difficult thing for me is to combine the vast range of emotions we hear in Tchaikovsky's music, with its ironic language, somewhat distanced from Pushkin.

"I want everything to be very natural. As Stanislavsky once said of a play by Chekhov, 'nothing happens, people sit, have lunch and human lives are destroyed'."

The director says it's even difficult for today's Russian actors to sing and perform the opera, let alone the Chinese cast.

The NCPA invited the director and singing coaches from Russia to audition and train Chinese performers last year. Wei believes that the Chinese cast will give audiences a pleasant surprise.

"This is my first opera singing in Russian," says baritone Yuan Chenye, who performs the title role Onegin. "It's destiny that I won the Tchaikovsky Music Competition in Moscow 20 years ago. Because of the relationship between the two countries, we learned little Russian opera in the past three decades.

"This time, the Russian director and coaches remind me that in 1990, when I worked at the China Opera House, I met a Russian director who impressed me with the great Russian drama tradition. He can sing, dance and perform. He can do anything onstage."

The NCPA's opera festival will present 10 operas, including La Traviata, Turandot, Il Trovatore and Chinese original operas.

"The NCPA has hosted the annual opera festival since 2009. This year's theme will be: Western opera is spreading while Chinese opera is blossoming," Wei says.

IF YOU GO

7:30 pm, March 14-17. National center for the Performing Arts, west of Tian'anmen Square, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-6655-0000.