Inside the rehearsals for Eugene Onegin:
Chorists

The crowd is an important figure in the new production. It is these “crooked and shifty people”, as Vasily Barkhatov terms these characters, who intensify the heavy atmosphere surrounding the Larins’ home. They peep in through the windows, harass the young people on their walks, interfere in the Larins’ life, gossip, spread rumours, and draw everybody around them into their reckless revelry.

Says Mikhail Ivanov, a member of the chorus:

“The chorus is a terrible force in Vasily Barkhatov’s production. All members of the chorus are brought on stage and have specific roles clearly prescribed by the director. They hate the Larins, who have arrived in the country from the city, openly mock them, and even trash their home! I’ve never been part of such a riotous chorus before.”

Ekaterina Beketova, also a member of the chorus, explains:

“I joined the Mikhailovsky Theatre chorus quite recently and this is the first time I have sung in a production that demands so much acting from the chorus. This is how director Vasily Barkhatov explained my role in the first act: ‘You have been drinking heavily for a whole month, and now you have to amuse the mistress and perform a circle dance with the other girls.’ The difficulty is that, whereas in a dramatic production the chorus can perform a scene like that with the diction of an intoxicated person, we cannot take such liberties. The singing must be accurate, regardless of the characters we are playing. It’s not easy to find the right balance, of course, but I like it. After all, playing the fool and having fun is always pleasant.”