NEWS RELEASE

Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 14, 2005

Contact: Contact: Mike Emery
713.743.8186 (office)
713.415.6551 (pager)
pemery@uh.edu

UNREQUITED LOVE DRIVES UH PRODUCTION OF CLASSIC OPERA ‘EUGENE ONEGIN’

A Russian gentleman refuses the advances of a lovely country girl. Is it a mismatched pair? Or, perhaps a mistimed romance?

Opera enthusiasts will find out during the University of Houston’s Edythe Bates Old Moores Opera Center’s first performance of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21 in the Moores Opera House. Based on the novel by Aleksandr Pushkin, the opera will be performed in English with surtitles.

“The opera remains very faithful to the book,” said Buck Ross, director of the Moores Opera Center. “People tend to respond to its romantic aspects. It’s a familiar tale of unrequited love, but the conclusion is quite unconventional. This is as passionate of an opera as you’ll ever find.”

In addition to the romantic aspects of “Eugene Onegin,” audiences will no doubt be drawn to its colorful sets and large chorus.

“There’s a lot of variety in this opera,” Ross said. “With seven scenes, we’re cranking out some great sets and using many beautiful voices to tell this story.”

Pushkin published “Eugene Onegin” as a serial between 1823 and 1831. It was first published in its entirety in 1833.

In 1879, Tchaikovsky adapted Pushkin’s novel into an opera and in 1999, a film version, “Onegin,” was released starring Ralph Fiennes.

For ticket information, call 713-743-3313 or visit http://www.music.uh.edu/events/schedule_opera.html#tickets.

WHAT: “Eugene Onegin”
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21 – Saturday, Oct. 22; Monday, Oct. 24
2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23
WHERE: Moores Opera House
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-5017
WHO: Moores School of Music and Moores Opera Center

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.