Pushkin’s novel is as close as anything to the heart of Russian culture, so much so that Tchaikovsky’s own adaptation has, in turn, been reworked for film on several occasions.

This version, made in 1958 and directed by Roman Tikhomirov, features Galina Vishnevskaya singing Tatyana. No singers are to be seen on screen, however. Pushkin is too sacred for that.

In this 1940 film of the next morning’s wintry scene, Lensky is sung (and played) by star of the Bolshoi Sergei_Lemeshev.

Finally, the last scenes of the opera in a more recent film version, directed by Peter Weigl. The film is acted to the existing recording conducted by Sir Georg Solti, with Tatyana and Onegin sung by Teresa Kubiak and Bernd Weikl.

The Weigl film and Solti sound recording are both available from Amazon, as is Pushkin’s novel.

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