Event overview
Tchaikovsky’s Yevgeny Onegin and the Changing Face of Russia in Britain, 1892-1906
The British premiere of Yevgeny Onegin in 1892 passed by without much fuss. In fact, its opening season was abandoned prematurely due to dwindling interest. While the director blamed low attendance on the bad weather, the critical responses reveal a far more complex set of reasons for the audiences’ ambivalence, bound up with contemporary debates over what the artistic and social function of opera ought to be. It was not until fourteen years later, once Tchaikovsky had attained widespread posthumous fame, that a second staging was attempted. Once again, critical opinion was divided; but this time, the concern was whether or not the opera was representative of Tchaikovsky’s genius. And where critics of 1892 had barely addressed the opera’s Russian quotient, now reviews were consumed by the question: ‘How Russian is it?’
A comparison of these two productions reveals a sharp shift in perceptions of Russian music in Britain at the turn of the twentieth century, which can be used to challenge two key arguments put forward by Richard Taruskin about the international reception of Tchaikovsky, and Russian music more generally: first, that Western audiences have always been interested in Russian music for its supposed Russian quotient; and, second, that Russianness, to these audiences, has only ever been deciphered in the presence of folksongs.
Indeed, critics of 1906 debated whether Onegin was profound enough, tragic enough and modern enough to be labelled Russian. These traits, what is more, were not just desirable of Russian music, but for any opera that could form a repertoire worthy of uniting and enlightening the British public.
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Tamsin joined the Music Department at Goldsmiths in 2014 and lectures on topics in nineteenth-century history. She recently completed her PhD on an AHRC-funded place at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Prof. Marina Frolova-Walker. So far, her research has focused on the transnational spread of Russian opera in the nineteenth century, considering contrasting reactions to this repertoire in three cities where it was most prominently supported: Prague, London and Nice. She is now embarking on a new project on the politics of musical exchange between France and Russia in the years surrounding the signing of the Franco-Russian Alliance. Tamsin has given papers at various seminars and conferences in the UK and abroad. Her most recent publication is a forthcoming article in Cambridge Opera Journal on the reception of 'A Life for the Tsar' in Nice.
The Music Research Series is designed to help postgraduate students advance their research and careers. The events stimulate exchange, hones skills, facilitates the creation of professional networks and helps to consolidate the department’s postgraduate community. Attendance is strongly recommended for all postgraduate students (MA, MMus and PGR) in Music but of course undergraduates, music researchers, and visitors from across the college and the community are also most welcome to these public lectures.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Jan 2015 | 5:00pm - 6:30pm |
Accessibility
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