First Nighter: Met's Second Cast Eugene Onegin Has Chekhovian Flair

The new cast of Eugene Onegin, the season opener at the Met, has weighed in. Turns out -- hooray! -- they're a troupe of heavyweights, especially as conducted by debuting Alexander Vedernikov, who appears to have Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky deeply embedded in his DNA. Very old news that the music to this sad tale of love thwarted by time is ravishingly lyrical through what the authors call "lyric scenes." Oh, is it lyrical, with the strings and woodwinds particularly lyrical throughout. But that do...