Credit: Maria kochetkova and Vitor Luiz on Cranko's Onegin. (© Erik Tomasson)

This season is a time for great excitement as Onegin the powerful ballet adaptation of the early-19th century novel in verse, Eugene Onegin, by Alexander Pushkin is brought to San Francisco. John Cranko’s dramatic adaptation seems perfectly suited for the company, where the Russian-born principal dancers Maria Kochetkova and Gennadi Nedvigin and soloist Dana Genshaft who were all weaned on Pushkin, bringing a special connection and passion to the work. (Alexander Pushkin has a status in Russia’s literary firmament which is hard to ignore).

Both opera and ballet of the same name are based on Alexander Pushkin’s 1832 novel in verse (389 stanzas of iambic tetrameter) about challenged honor and thwarted love which Pushkin had experience in each. (He fought 29 duels, the way of saving honour in the century, finally falling victim to one at age 37.)

The passionate story of Russian aristocrat Eugene and his lost chance for love with the beautiful Tatiana, unlocks moving themes of unrequited love, anguish, and tragic irony. Set to a powerful score by Tchaikovsky, this production features lavish scenery and costumes by award-winning designer Santo Loquasto and lighting by James F. Ingalls giving the audience a real feast for the senses.

John Cranko created “Onegin” in 1965 for Stuttgart Ballet with a score constructed together from various Tchaikovsky sources. In 1969, Stuttgart performed the U.S. premiere on ‘Onegin’ but it wasn’t until 1994 that an American company, Boston Ballet, obtained it, and since then several other U.S. companies have added it to their repertoire as well.

The ballet begins on Friday the 27th of January and runs until the 3rd of February.

Onegin

Presented by San Francisco Ballet

Where: War Memorial Opera House, 401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
When: 8 p.m. Jan. 27, Jan. 31 and Feb. 2-3; 2 and 8 p.m. Jan. 28; 2 p.m. Jan. 29; 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1
Tickets: $36 to $285
Contact: (415) 865-2000, www.sfballet.org

The complete plot can be found on Wikipedia.