Performance Review: Eugene Onegin, Chicago, 2008

"The final week of a Lyric Opera of Chicago season is usually not a time for a singer to excite the public's fancy the way Mariusz Kwiecien is doing. But the charismatic young Polish baritone is a special case.

Joining the cast for the second half of the run of Robert Carsen's production of Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin," Kwiecien is scoring a triumph in the title role, a part everywhere identified with his immediate predecessor, Siberian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

In fact, Kwiecien commands the stage with his good looks, rich and resonant voice and the volatile intensity with which he throws himself into the role of the aloof Russian playboy who, much to his bitter regret later on, spurns the affections of a trusting country girl, Tatyana.

After Hvorostovsky bowed out of Lyric's final five "Onegin" performances a year ago for family reasons, the company approached Kwiecien (pronounced KVYEH-chen) to head the cast. Fortunately the singer was able to sandwich a Lyric engagement between performances of "Lucia di Lammermoor" at the Metropolitan Opera and "I Puritani" in Seattle.

[...]Lyric music director Andrew Davis, who is conducting "Onegin" here, points out the spark-plug quality that sets Kwiecien's performances apart and also brings out the very best in his colleagues. "He's terrific to work with, a very good colleague, a musician who brings huge energy to the stage," says Davis. "We zipped through the rehearsals because, on top of everything else, he's very smart.[...]"

John von Rhein, "Kwiecien brings energy, confidence to 'Onegin'",
Chicago Tribune, March 29, 2008