I’m practicing the adapted flute solo piece for Lensky’s Aria from Tchaivkosky’s Opera Eugene Onegin. Here’s the background check for this piece:

The opera has three acts and Lensky’s aria takes place near the end of Act II:

Act I:

  • Tatyana, a bookish and romantic young woman, falls in love with the dashing but aloof Eugene Onegin, a friend of the poet Vladimir Lensky.
  • She writes Onegin a heartfelt letter confessing her feelings. He coldly rejects her, advising her to control her emotions.

Act II:

  • At Tatyana’s name-day party, Onegin flirts with Olga, Lensky’s fiancée, partly out of boredom and partly to spite Lensky.
  • Lensky, deeply hurt, challenges Onegin to a duel.
  • Before the duel, Lensky sings his aria (“Kuda, kuda vï udalilis…”), reflecting on his life, his love, and the possibility of death.
  • Onegin kills Lensky in the duel. He is devastated by his own actions and begins a life of guilt and wandering.

Act III:

  • Years later, Onegin returns to society and meets a transformed Tatyana—now elegant and composed, married to Prince Gremin.
  • He falls in love with her, but she rejects him, though she confesses she still loves him. She stays loyal to her husband.

Lensky’s Aria remorse on his memories of youth, quiet acceptance of possible death and a mixture of sorrow, nostalgia, and peace. This website organized the OG Russian poem (which was directly applied in Tchaikovsky’s opera) with pronunciation and English translation: https://classicalmusicandmusicians.com/2018/03/21/lenskys-aria-from-eugene-onegin-act-ii-sergei-lemishev-at-age-35/.

Where, oh where have you gone, Golden days of my spring?

…

Blessed is a day of simple tasks

And blessed is the day of darkness.

When the day-beam shines in the morning

and the bright day shall reign

I’m still too young for this…