Opéra national de Paris has today announced that acclaimed actor Ralph Fiennes will direct a new production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin in February 2026 as part of its new season.

A longtime connoisseur of the work of Pushkin, on whose work the opera is based, Feinnes appeared in the title role of the film Onegin (1999), directed by his sister Martha.

Russian baritone Boris Pinkhasovich will appear in the title role, alongside Ruzan Mantashyan as Tatyana, Marvic Monreal as Olga, and Bogdan Volkov as Lensky. Music direction will initially be by the Soviet-born American conductor Semyon Bychkov, followed by Case Scaglione, making his Palais Garnier debut.

Other new productions announced include Antonia Bembo’s Ercole amante in June 2026 and the completion of Calixto Bieito's Ring staging: Walküre and Siegfried in November and January. Götterdämmerung is promised in 2026–7, with complete Ring cycle performances planned for that season.

Feinnes said of the character of Onegin: 'The figure of the melancholic man, disenchanted with the world, is often found in Russian literature. This condition of the human soul is absolutely timeless.'

Tickets will be on sale from 23 September. operadeparis.fr