The Metropolitan Opera's 2025-26 season of Saturday matinee broadcasts continues on May 2 with a performance of Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin."
The poignant drama, based on Pushkin’s novel in verse, stars Ukrainian baritone Iurii Samoilov in the title role of the charismatic but aimless young gentleman. Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian, hailed as one of today's most exciting singing actresses, is the humble Tatiana, who falls hopelessly in love with Onegin and works up the courage to send him an impassioned letter. And French tenor Stanislas de Barbeyrac plays Onegin's friend, the sensitive poet Lenski. The cast also features Maria Barakova, Alexander Tsymbalyuk and Larissa Diadkova. Maestro Timur Zangiev makes his network broadcast debut conducting the Met Orchestra and Chorus.
Listen to the broadcast of "Eugene Onegin" on Classical IPR at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 2, 2026.
Read the synopsis from the Metropolitan Opera.
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Want even more behind-the-scenes access? Each week, Met Opera chorus member Katherine DeYoung brings you exclusive looks at the sets, costumes and fun production facts on our Instagram. Follow @classicalipr on Instagram to catch her video dispatches and get an insider’s perspective.
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From the Met: "Tchaikovsky's many moods — tender, grand, melancholy — are all given free rein in 'Eugene Onegin.' The opera is based on Pushkin's iconic verse novel, which reimagines the Byronic romantic anti-hero as the definitive bored Russian aristocrat caught between convention and ennui; Tchaikovsky, similarly, took Western European operatic forms and transformed them into an authentic and undeniably Russian work. At the core of the opera is the young girl Tatiana, who grows from a sentimental adolescent into a complete woman in one of the operatic stage’s most convincing character developments."
Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Libretto: Konstantin Shilovsky, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
CAST
Eugene Onegin: Iurii Samoilov
Tatiana: Asmik Grigorian
Olga: Maria Barakova
Madame Larina: Elena Zaremba
Filippyevna: Larissa Diadkova
Offstage Voice: Remy Martin
Lenski: Stanislas de Barbeyrac
Captain: Ben Brady
Monsieur Triquet: Tony Stevenson
Zaretski: Richard Bernstein
Prince Gremin: Alexander Tsymbalyuk
