For the third consecutive year, Anna Netrebko starred in the opening production of the season at the Metropolitan Opera, New York; a performance enjoyed by her legion of fans in more than 64 countries, as part of the Met s Live In HD cinema broadcasts. The Met s new staging of Tchaikovsky s passionately lyrical masterpiece is the first DVD/Blu-ray release featuring Anna Netrebko in one of Russian opera s greatest and most demanding roles. Anna s portrayal of Tatiana s journey from the tortured young woman of the famous letter scene , to society beauty has been acclaimed as much for its dramatic truth as its soaring musical lyricism. Polish tenor star Piotr Beczala received glowing reviews for his performance as the lovelorn poet Lenski, Onegin"s friend turned rival. This greatest of Russian operas is conducted by the Music Director of the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, Valery Gergiev. Deborah Warner"s new production, staged at The Met by award-winning actress Fiona Shaw, moves the drama from the 1820s of Pushkin s poem, to the more intensely psychological era of the opera s composition, in the 1870s. The epic staging follows Tatiana from the isolated farmhouse of her youth to the glittering ballrooms of St.Petersburg and her fateful final encounter with Onegin, here set against a tempestuous Russian snowstorm. The title role of the imperious Eugene Onegin is sung by charismatic Polish baritone Mariusz Kwiecien, here making his Met debut in a role that has been his calling card at many of the world s greatest opera houses.