David Drettwan: My name is David Drettwan, and I'm playing Eugene Onegin, also known as Yevgeniy Onegin, in Eugene Onegin, by Tchaikovsky.
SeonYoung Park: My name is SeonYoung Park. I'm playing Tatiana in Eugene Onegin.
Aaron Cain: David, what do you think about playing this character who spends so much of the opera, just, making a pretty big mistake?
David Drettwan: [laughs] …um…
Aaron Cain: …or, is that how you look at it?
David Drettwan: Well…he does. Without giving his entire back story it's hard to explain his more redeemable qualities, but ,on the face of it, it's the story of a superfluous man who lives off of the income from his estate. So he has no real work or purpose in life. He just goes to parties, drinks all the best wine, he has all the best food, and he doesn't really have to do anything. He just lives a life of leisure. But he doesn't enjoy any of it. He's plagued by this cynicism, this cynical boredom. He's a man who rejects the love of his life and kills his best friend in a duel. But when you get into the story, the thing that keeps drawing people back over the years, the reason why it's one of my favorite operas and novels, is because the characters are all complicated and real. They're messy. And the ultimate thing that's so moving about Onegin is that his tragedy is entirely self-inflicted. He has nobody to blame but himself at the end.
Aaron Cain: The opera is named after him, but he probably isn't quite the hero, and maybe not quite a victim. So, SeonYoung, how do you see Tatiana? Is she the hero of this story?
SeonYoung Park: Actually…she's not hero. But I think Tchaikovsky wanted to show us a person who was young and innocent, who can change. So, in Act One, Tatiana just, like, innocent, shy, timid. And she grew up in countryside. And she found her love, the first love. But Tatyana rejected from him, and she totally changed. Like, she lives stable life, and she is in high society as a Princess. She cannot love her true love, but it doesn't mean she is unhappy. So I think she will be happy.
Aaron Cain: You'd mentioned, David, that this is one of your favorites, and you talked about how is because there is a flawed character, a tragic character. How do you feel Tchaikovsky's music captures that?
David Drettwan: Tchaikovsky, even though he had a real disdain for Onegin, he entered into a marriage—an unhappy marriage—because he didn't want to be like Onegin. He didn't want to reject…
SeonYoung Park: …right…
David Drettwan: …somebody so passionate and intelligent like Tatiana.
SeonYoung Park: …uh-huh.
David Drettwan: And so it was something he felt really personally. But I think it's really interesting and moving that he still gave Onegin a lot of love in how he wrote him. Every time he enters, there is this romantic fanfare that's lush.
SeonYoung Park: Yeah.
David Drettwan: You can hear in the music the aura that surrounds him.
Aaron Cain: Now, what do you think about Tchaikovsky's music for Tatiana?
SeonYoung Park: Um…It's very interesting. She has her own motivation. She can adjust easily, even if she is not extrovert. She is quiet, but she is very grounded person. And Tchaikovsky expresses her personality in the music. So I just…I can't follow the music easily.
David Drettwan: The beauty of the character like Tatiana—I mean, Tchaikovsky wanted to call the opera Tatiana—and she's one of the greats of literature, in my opinion.
SeonYoung Park: Mm-hmm.
David Drettwan: It's just her intelligence. And in her rebuke of Onegin it's so brutal because she says, “and you know what? I would give anything to go back to live in the middle of nowhere, and just with our books in our estate and not be a big deal, but that's okay because we would have each other. But I have no reason to trust you, and I already made a promise to another. I'm not going to sacrifice my honor or my integrity. You're clearly, you know…
SeonYoung Park: Yeah.
David Drettwan: …a bit of a mess.” [laughs]
SeonYoung Park: Mm-hmm.
Aaron Cain: It's all about timing.
SeonYoung Park: Yeah.
David Drettwan: It is.
Aaron Cain: Soprano SeonYoung Park, and baritone David Drettwan, thank you very much for speaking with me today.
David Drettwan: Thank you.
SeonYoung Park: Thank you.
Aaron Cain: IU Jacobs School of Music Opera Theater presents Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky this weekend, Friday and Saturday night at 7:30, at the Musical Arts Center. More information at operaballet.indiana.edu. For WFIU arts, I'm Aaron Cain.
