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2026

March

Tue
17 Mar 2026

Thu
19 Mar 2026

Sat
21 Mar 2026

Tue
24 Mar 2026

Thu
26 Mar 2026

Sat
28 Mar 2026
Venue

Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point, Sydney

Language

Performed in Russian with English surtitles.

Running time

Approximately 2 hours and 50 minutes, including one interval.

Please note

This production features replica firearms and gunshots.

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In restless youth, adolescent gloom, she was waiting… but for whom?

Tatyana is a dreamer, lost in romantic stories. When the dashing Eugene Onegin walks into her world, she feels her own love story beginning. But Onegin rejects her passion.

Eugene Onegin is the journey from what could be to what might have been. Between lies tragedy. Tchaikovsky’s sumptuous opera is a study in reminiscence and regret.

Kasper Holten’s “hyper-intelligent, deeply moving production” (Limelight) brings memory to the fore. Through flashback, Tatyana and Onegin watch their younger selves make choices that will haunt their lives. As memories pile up on stage, the effect is devastating.

Lauren Fagan makes a triumphant return to our stage, following her unforgettable performance as Suor Angelica in Il Trittico. She’s joined by Ukrainian baritone Andrei Bondarenko as Onegin and rising Australian star Nicholas Jones as Lensky.

German conductor Anna Skryleva makes an exciting Opera Australia debut conducting one of Tchaikovsky’s most celebrated works. The Romantic score adds layers of emotion to Pushkin’s tale of unrequited love.


Eugene Onegin at Sydney Opera House (2014)

Photographer: Lisa Tomasetti

Cast & Creative

Conductor
Director
Set Designer
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Video Designer
Leo Warner (for 59 Studio)
Choreographer
Revival Director
Tatyana
Onegin
Lensky
Olga
Gremin
Larina
Filipyevna
Monsieur Triquet
Zaretsky
Captain
Offstage Tenor

Opera Australia Orchestra
Opera Australia Chorus

Eugene Onegin at Sydney Opera House (2014)

Cheat Sheet: Eugene Onegin

A cheat’s guide to Tchaikovsky's most celebrated opera

What happens in the story? Who was the composer? What should I expect from the music? Here’s everything you need to know…

Read the cheat sheet

Synopsis

Act 1

Scene 1: The garden of the Larin country estate

Madame Larina and the nurse Filippyevna are sitting outside in the garden. They can hear Madame Larina’s two daughters, Tatyana and her younger sister Olga, singing a love song. Madame Larina begins to reminisce about her own courtship and marriage. A group of peasants enter, and celebrate the harvest with songs and dances. Tatyana and Olga watch. Tatyana has been reading a romantic novel and is absorbed by the story; her carefree sister, on the other hand, wants to join in the celebrations. Madame Larina tells Tatyana that real life is very different from her novels. Filippyevna announces that visitors have arrived: Olga’s fiancé Lensky, a young poet, and his friend Eugene Onegin, visiting the area from St Petersburg. The pair are shown in and Lensky introduces Onegin to the Larin family. Onegin is initially surprised that Lensky has chosen the extrovert Olga rather than her more subtle elder sister as his fiancée. Tatyana for her part is immediately and strongly attracted to Onegin. Lensky expresses his delight at seeing Olga and she responds flirtatiously. Onegin tells Tatyana of his boredom in the country and describes the death of his uncle and his subsequent inheritance of a nearby estate. Filippyevna recognizes that Onegin has had a profound effect on Tatyana.

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