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Reflections of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, 1833-2014 Constructing the Russian Moral Project through the Classics: Reflections of Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin, 1833-2014 Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Emily Alane Erken Graduate Program in Music The Ohio State University 2015 Dissertation Committee: Danielle Fosler-Lussier, Advisor Alexander Burry Ryan Thomas Skinner Copyright by Emily Alane Erken 2015 Abstract Since the nineteenth century, the Russian intelligentsia has fostered a conversation that blurs the boundaries of literature, the arts, and life. Bypassing more direct modes of political discourse blocked by Imperial and then Soviet censorship, arts reception in Russia has provided educated Russians with an alternative sphere for the negotiation of social, moral, and national identities. This discursive practice has endured through the turbulent political changes of the Russian revolution, Soviet repression, and the economic anxiety of contemporary Russia. Members of the intelligentsia who believe that individuals can and should work for the moral progress of the Russian people by participating in this conversation are constructing the Russian moral project. Near the end of the nineteenth century, members of the intelligentsia unofficially established a core set of texts and music—Russian klassika—that seemed to represent the best of Russian creative output. Although the canon seems permanent, educated Russians continue to argue about which texts are important and what they mean. Even Aleksandr Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin (1825-1833), a novel-in-verse that functions as the cornerstone of this canon, remains at the center of debate in a conversation about literature that is simultaneously a conversation about Russian life. Pushkin is considered the founder of Russia’s literary language, and Russian readers and critics have endowed him with a saint-like status. His image has become a secular icon of Russian creative potential. The ii heroine of his magnum opus, Tatiana Larina, has in turn become an icon of Russian morality. As Russians interpret Onegin’s themes and describe its characters, they also express what matters most in their own lives. The history of Onegin reception thus reflects the development of Russian ideas about life over the course of the last two centuries. Beginning in 1844, composers, theater directors, and choreographers have adapted Pushkin’s novel for the stage, often challenging the dominant readings of their well-loved source text. For example, Tchaikovsky’s opera adaptation follows Tatiana rather than Eugene, as she develops her own creative voice through the musical romances of her childhood; ultimately, her creative development allows her the moral strength to refuse Eugene. At the Bolshoi Opera Studio in 1922, Konstantin Stanislavsky represented Tatiana as a simple-hearted woman. In 1944, Boris Pokrovsky presented Tatiana as a socialist realist heroine, a strong woman with the integrity to refuse an unworthy suitor. Since the collapse of state socialism, post-Soviet citizens have continued to negotiate their turbulent world through and with Onegin. In 2006, Dmitri Tcherniakov radically reinvisioned Tchaikovsky’s Onegin at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater. Artists, scholars, and critics argued about the merits of Tcherniakov’s staging and indeed its right to exist. Ordinary audience members joined the conversation by posting “spectator reviews” (zritel’skie retsenzii) to personal blogs and discussion forums online. When Boris Eifman premiered a choreographic adaptation of Onegin in 2009, audience members and critics used these same channels to lambast the corrupt present and to articulate what a better future for Russia would look like. Similarly, audience members iii responded to Rimas Tuminas’s 2013 play adaptation of Onegin by highlighting what they would preserve for the future. Spectator reviews of Eugene Onegin illustrate instances of individual participation in the Russian moral project. iv Dedicated to Mom, Margarita Mazo, and Maureen v Acknowledgments I would first like to thank Dr. Danielle Fosler-Lussier, my dissertation advisor, and Dr. Margarita Mazo, two wonderful scholars who have advised me over the course of my graduate studies. I would never have made so much progress without their constant guidance and their shared belief in my potential to become a musicologist. It has been a great privilege to work with Dr. Mazo and Dr. Fosler-Lussier. I would also like to thank Dr. Alexander Burry and Dr. Ryan Skinner who graciously served on my committee and offered me their excellent feedback. Dr. Lois Rosow, Dr. Anna Gawboy, Dr. Graeme Boone, and Dr. Charles Atkinson have helped me develop as a writer, teacher, and scholar. Special thanks are due to Dr. Peter Schmelz, who offered his feedback in the final stages of writing. My friends from Russia, Elena Katykina, Olga Chuvorkina, Alexandra Urakova, and Yulia Il’ina have assisted me with translations and transcriptions. Scholars and musicians in their own right, their continuous support has helped me work accurately and intelligently in a foreign language. I would also like to thank my lovely sister, Rita, for helping me with translations from French. The stellar staff at Ohio State’s Music and Dance Library has helped me locate difficult-to-find materials and refine my searches throughout my coursework and writing. vi These generous and highly capable people include Sean Ferguson, Alan Green, Gretchen Atkinson, Jarod Ogier, Michael Moore, and Nick Wilkenson. I would like to thank Ohio State University, the School of Music’s Ethnomusicology program, and the Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship for providing me with funding for three trips to study and conduct research in Russia. In 2013, German Gureev introduced me to members of the Eifman Ballet and invited me to rehearsals. I sincerely thank him for his effort on my behalf. Last, and probably most of all, I would like to thank my mother, Gabrielle, who taught me to read, my godfather Greg, who initiated my early training in music, and my father William, who encouraged me to pursue a highly-specialized vocation in music, literature, and culture studies. I would not have accomplished this work without their continuing love and support. vii Vita May 2003 .......................................................Marian High School 2007................................................................B.A. in Music, DePaul University, Chicago 2008-2012 ......................................................Graduate Teaching Associate, School of Music, The Ohio State University 2012-2015 ......................................................Adjunct Faculty, Conservatory of Music, Capital University, Columbus 2012 to present ..............................................Lecturer, School of Music, The Ohio State University Publications “Composing the Musical Self Online: Social Media as Audience Engagement.” Proceedings of 9th Conference on Interdisciplinary Musicology (CIM14), ed. Timour Klouche & Eduardo R. Miranda (Berlin: Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung, 2014), 47-49. viii “Muzyka, Kinomatograficheskaia Teknika, i Chekhovskii Podtekst v Balete Dzh. Noimaiera Chaika” (Music, Film Techniques and Chekhovian Subtext in Neumeier’s Ballet The Seagull). In Molodye Issledovateli Chekhova: Sbornik Statei 7, ed. E. D. Orlov (Young Chekhov Scholars: Essay Collection 7) (Moscow: Melikhova, 2013), 302-12. “A Dialogue between Chekhov, Tchaikovsky, and Shostakovich: John Neumeier’s 2002 Ballet The Seagull.” 19th-Century Music 36, no. 2 (2012): 159-171. Fields of Study Major Field: Music ix Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………ii Dedication…………………………………………………………………………………v Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………..…vi Vita………………………………………………………………………………….…..viii Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………….……x List of Tables………………………………………………………………………..……xi List of Musical Examples……………………………………………………………….xiii Chapter 1: Klassika and the Moral Project of the Russian Intelligentsia…………………1 Chapter 2: Singing the World through Spectator Reviews …………………...…………32 Chapter 3: Pushkin and Tatiana, Secular Icons.…………………………………………76 Chapter 4: The Creative Development of Tchaikovsky’s Tatiana …………………..…107 Chapter 5: The “Classic” Onegins of Konstantin Stanislavsky and Boris Pokrovsky....153 Chapter 6: Confronting the Soviet Past in Responses to Tcherniakov’s Onegin (2006) 172 Chapter 7: Seeking the Contemporary Russian Soul in Eifman’s Onegin (2009)...........210 Chapter 8: Icons of Experience in Rimas Tuminas’s Eugene Onegin (2013)……….…248 Chapter 9: Conclusions …………………………………………………………...……289 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………...……297 x Appendix A: Selected Adaptations of Eugene Onegin Produced in Russia ……….… 310 Appendix B: Stage Directions and Text by Section for Tatiana’s Letter Scene……….313 Appendix C: Galina Vishnevskaya’s Letter to Alexei Iskanov……………………...…319 Appendix D: Reception Sources for Tcherniakov’s Opera Production of Eugene Onegin…..........................................................................................................................324 Appendix E: Reception Sources for Eifman’s Ballet Onegin …………….…………… 331 Appendix F: Reception Sources for Tuminas’s Play Eugene Onegin………….………335 xi List of Tables Table 2.1 Reception Materials for Tchernaikov’s Eugene Onegin (2006-2014)……….46 Table 2.2 Reception Materials for Eifman’s Onegin (2009-2014)……………………...47 Table 2.3 Reception Materials
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