Hot ice: Osipova and Brændsrød sizzle in Cranko’s Onegin

Lukas B Brǽndsrød (Onegin) and Natalia Osipova (Tatiana)

Natalia Osipova (Tatiana) and Lukas B Brǽndsrød (Onegin)

Natalia Osipova (Tatiana)

Natalia Osipova (Tatiana) and Nicol Edmonds (Gremin)

Sae Maeda (Olga) and Joseph Sissens (Lensky)

By Mark Pullinger, 04 June 2025

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“the thermometer soared in a sizzling Mirror pas de deux, Osipova tossed around in audacious lifts”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 3 June 2025

Onegin (John Cranko)

The Royal Ballet

Wolfgang Heinz, Conductor

Jürgen Rose, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Steen Bjarke, Lighting Designer

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden

Lukas B Brændsrød, Dancer

Natalia Osipova, Dancer

Sae Maeda, Dancer

Joseph Sissens, Dancer

Nicol Edmonds, Dancer

The Royal Ballet in Onegin: supreme performances across the board

Graham Watts, 22nd January

The welcome revival of a borrowed jewel in The Royal Ballet's treasure chest of story ballets.

*****

Onegin is the Bridgerton of ballet

Ivy Lin, 20th June

Two very promising debuts in the lead roles and good performances in the supporting roles, made this an enjoyable Onegin.

****1

Farewells and bold debuts in National Ballet of Canada's Onegin

Gianmarco Segato, 24th November

National Ballet of Canada's connections to John Cranko's Onegin run deep and this revival featured beloved company farewells and exciting next generation debuts.

****1

Petipa Awards Gala: thrilling theatrics and star turns!

Margaret Willis, 23rd September

A shimmering smorgasbord of some of today’s most exciting international dancers, who performed pristine works by Petipa.

****1

Pushkin in Prague: a fine revival of Onegin by Czech National Ballet

Jonathan Gray, 9th February

Powerful performances by the four leading dancers brought dramatic weight to this tremendous revival of John Cranko's Onegin by Czech National Ballet.

****1

Fair Verona comes to Sydney: the AB's heartrending Romeo and Juliet

Chantal Nguyen, 1st December

The Australian Ballet do full justice to Shakespeare's epic tale of star-crossed lovers. Featuring a restaging of John Cranko's famous ballet, the first in almost twenty years, both the ensemble and leads shine in bringing Verona to life.

****1

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

Hot ice: Natalia Osipova and Lukas B Brændsrød sizzle in Cranko’s Onegin