Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin is one of the most valuable gems of the Russian musical treasury and a shining example of Russian lyric opera. The deeply moving story is based on the verse novel by Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin. Bored with his busy social life, young Eugene Onegin leaves the city for the countryside, where he meets a young girl, Tatyana, who falls in love with him at first sight. She writes him a letter in which she confesses her feelings and is full of ideals and ideas of romantic love. But Onegin does not reply, he does not return her feelings and rejects Tatiana's love heartlessly. Years later he realises that he has made a mistake, but it is too late. Tatyana has grown from a young girl into a grown woman, married Prince Gremin and accepted a life without illusions. Onegin professes his love for her, and although Tatyana still loves him, this time it is she who refuses, as she does not want to destroy her marriage. Tchaikovsky's musical mastery enhanced Pushkin's hopelessly romantic and ultimately devastating story. The character development is one of the most convincing on the operatic stage ever. The work is full of intense emotions and twists. The opera premiered in Moscow on 29 March 1879. The Czech premiere took place on 6 December 1888 at the National Theatre in Prague and was conducted by the composer himself. The aria from the opera is rightly one of the most famous in the world opera repertoire.

Who, with whom and why? An opera drama about love that cannot be understood?