Three hundred fifty costumes, hundreds of meters of carefully selected, coordinated, aged and silk-screen printed fabrics: The new production of Eugene Onegin by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, showing at the Paris Opera through February 27, has spared no expense, offering audiences a sense of realism long absent from so-called “contemporary” productions. Paris has wholeheartedly applauded the staging entrusted to star actor and director Ralph Fiennes, whose first foray into the operatic world reveals a remarkable talent for directing actors.

The British director warned that he would approach the work as theater. It is hard to say what deserves more admiration: the crowd scenes crafted as living genre paintings or the taut dramatic threads between the protagonists, where singing becomes just one expressive element among others.

One can see disappointment and pain contort Tatyana’s body after her love is rejected by Onegin. In turn, Onegin himself shrinks into his chair as the elderly Prince Gremin, madly in love with his young wife, recounts his redemptive encounter with this woman whose nobility and allure finally pierce his indifferent heart. Fiennes has elevated this delicate art of address – so often absent from operatic productions – to a remarkable level of clarity and refinement. Every word is carried by both voice and body; every gesture is inhabited by sound and music.

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