Ballet in two acts after Alexander Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin
Tatiana
A full-evening ballet by Lera Auerbach with idea, libretto, choreography, staging, sets, and costumes by John Neumeier, drawn from Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin.
Commission
Co-commissioned by The Hamburg Ballet, The Hamburg State Opera, and The Moscow State Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre. The premiere production was a co-production between The Hamburg State Opera and the Moscow theatre.
Structure
Two acts, with prolog. The choreography by John Neumeier follows a scene structure different from the score.
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Prolog
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Act I
- Scene 1: Onegin’s Day
- Scene 2: In the Country
- Scene 3: At the Larinas
- Scene 4: Tatiana’s Letter
- Scene 5: Nightmare
- Scene 6: Tatiana’s Awakening
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Act II
- Scene 7: The Duel
- Scene 8: Interlude — Time Passing… Onegin’s Journey
- Scene 9: Onegin’s Letter
- Scene 10: The Final Duel
Work Information
Abbreviations PDF
Dramatis Personae
- Tatiana LarinaThe young woman at the center of the ballet’s memory, dream, and transformation.
- Eugene OneginThe object of Tatiana’s first great love and the figure of later regret.
- Olga LarinaTatiana’s sister.
- Vladimir LenskyPoet, friend, rival, and tragic counterpart.
- Prince N.Tatiana’s later husband.
Synopsis
In choreographic episodes that move between dream, memory, premonition, and reality, John Neumeier’s Tatiana brings Pushkin’s world to the stage through the inner life of Tatiana Larina.
The ballet follows a young woman raised in the Russian countryside whose first encounter with love becomes a decisive experience of imagination, humiliation, self-knowledge, and moral awakening.
Rather than retelling Eugene Onegin only as a linear plot, the ballet places Tatiana’s destiny, memory, and perspective at the center. Her letter, her nightmare, the duel, the passing of time, and Onegin’s belated return become part of a larger psychological and poetic architecture.
Production & Film
The Hamburg premiere production was filmed and released internationally by C Major.
- World Premiere · 2014 Hamburg — Staatsoper Hamburg John Neumeier — choreography, staging, set, and costumes. Hamburg Ballet. Simon Hewett — conductor.
- Co-Production Hamburg State Opera / Moscow Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre Co-produced by the Hamburg State Opera and the Moscow State Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre.
- Film Release C Major Entertainment Filmed with Hélène Bouchet, Edvin Revazov, Leslie Heylmann, Alexandr Trusch, Carsten Jung, Hamburg Ballet, and the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg under Simon Hewett.
World Premiere
2014
Hamburg Premiere
- Staatsoper Hamburg
- Hamburg Ballet
- Hélène Bouchet — Tatiana
- Edvin Revazov — Eugene Onegin
- Leslie Heylmann — Olga Larina
- Alexandr Trusch — Vladimir Lensky
- Carsten Jung — Prince N.
- John Neumeier — choreography, staging, set, and costumes
- Hamburg Philharmoniker / Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg
- Simon Hewett — conductor
Publisher, Materials, and Film
Published by Boosey & Hawkes / Sikorski. Score and rental materials are available through Zinfonia. The filmed Hamburg Ballet production is available through C Major and listed by Naxos.