16, 28 & 31 Mar 2007

Royal Opera House Covent Garden, London WC2E 9DD; Box Office: 020 7304 4000
Tickets: £5-£50. 16 & 28 March at 19.30; 31 March at 19.00

Pushkin’s great Russian verse-novel is presented with drive and depth as John Cranko’s three-act ballet Onegin returns to the Royal Ballet repertory. Fine storytelling and detailed dance characterizations bring alive the compelling tale of an unrequited love that begins in a Russian garden but ends amid the splendour of St Petersburg aristocracy, all to music drawn from Tchaikovsky.

Eugene Onegin is unimpressed with Tatiana’s naivety when they first meet in Madame Larina’s garden. Her impetuous letter of love to Onegin inspired Cranko to choreograph a wonderfully haunting pas de deux to portray Tatiana’s impossibly romantic infatuation. The tables are turned when they meet again after she has become the sophisticated and beautiful wife of Prince Gremin.

More details on www.royaloperahouse.org.