A psychological interpretation of the opera mixing in references to the history of Germany, Wagner’s life, German literature and philosophy. The action is centered on Wagner’s death mask. Kundry is the main character – one might read the film as the story of her redemption rather than that of Amfortas.
The cynical young Onegin rejects Tatyana, a dreamy, bookish country girl. But Onegin lives to regret it when, years later, he re-encounters Tatyana, now a beautiful, worldly woman who has married into wealthy society. Tchaikovsky clothed this tale in the Romantic theatrical, domestic, and ballroom music of the story’s milieu, in and around St. Petersburg circa 1820. Graham Vick’s staging.
