Two centuries of the Russian classics Two centuries of the Russian classics 2686-7494 IWL RAS https://doi.org/10.22455/2686-7494-2026-8-2-342-369 Research Article Articles About Artistic Integration in the Poetics of Russian Realism: Pushkin — Turgenev — Tchaikovsky Shvedova Svetlana O. red@rusklassika.ru 25 06 2026 8 2 342 369 Russian realism opera “Eugene Onegin ” A. S. Pushkin I. S. Turgenev P. I. Tchaikovsky Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026 This article examines the specifics of P. I. Tchaikovsky’s creative “rereading” of A. S. Pushkin’s novel in verse “Eugene Onegin,” as expressed in the innovative poetics of “lyrical scenes.” The analysis focuses not on the methods of translation from one art form to another, but on the phenomenon of literature- centricity, characteristic of 19th-century aesthetic thinking. This phenomenon is linked to the composer’s particular perception of Pushkin’s work and the aesthetic forms in which it is reinterpreted in the musical composition. The study draws on music criticism, literary studies, and musicological research that document and explore the connections between Tchaikovsky’s opera and Pushkin’s novel, as well as literary phenomena of the second half of the 19th century that developed the Pushkin tradition. The fact that the opera was a success on stage among his contemporaries, unexpected for the composer himself, can be explained by the special nature of Tchaikovsky’s creative perception of Pushkin’s novel through the “optics” of contemporary realistic literature. 1. Al’shvang, A. A. P. I. Chaikovskii [P. I. Tchaikovsky]. Moscow, Muzyka Publ., 1970. 816 p. (In Russ.) 2. Vinogradova, A. S. “ʽEvgenii Onegin’: prem’ernoe piatiletie v zerkale pressy” [“ʽEugene Onegin’: the Premiere’s Fifth Anniversary in the Mirror of the Press”]. Iskusstvo muzyki: teoriia i istoriia, no. 26, 2022, pp. 8–51. (In Russ.) 3. Gasparov, B. M. “Glava 3. ʽEvgenii Onegin’ v vek realizma” [“Chapter 3. ʽEugene Onegin’ in the Age of Realism”]. Gasparov, B. M. Piat’ oper i simfoniia: slovo i muzyka v russkoi kul’ture [Five Operas and a Symphony: Words and Music in Russian Culture]. Moscow, Klassika-XXI Publ., 2009, pp. 87–132. (In Russ.) 4. Gozenpud, A. A. Dostoevskii i muzykal’no-teatral’noe iskusstvo [Dostoevsky and Musical and Theatrical Art]. Leningrad, Sovetskii kompozitor Publ., 1981. 224 p. (In Russ.) 5. Gozenpud, A. A. “Pushkin i russkaia opernaia klassika” [“Pushkin and Russian Opera Classics”]. Pushkin: Issledovaniia i materialy [Pushkin: Research and Materials], vol. 5: Pushkin i russkaia kul’tura [Pushkin and Russian Culture]. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1967, pp. 200–216. (In Russ.) 6. Evdokimova, O. V, and Zh. I. Solis. “Evoliutsiia melankholicheskoi traditsii kul’tury v ʽklassicheskom’ romane I. S. Turgeneva: ot Lizy Kalitinoi k Dmitriiu Insarovu” [“The Evolution of the Melancholic Tradition of Culture in the ʽClassical’ Novel by I. S. Turgenev: From Liza Kalitina to Dmitry Insarov”]. Evdokimova, O. V. Russkii klassicheskii roman: konstanty i variatsii (“Dvorianskoe gnezdo” I. S. Turgeneva) [The Russian Classical Novel: Constants and Variations (“A Nest of the Gentry” by I. S. Turgenev)]. St. Petersburg, Svoe izdatel’stvo Publ., 2025, pp. 59–67. (In Russ.) 7. Evdokimova, O. V., and K. V. Tsvetkova. “Poetika obraza chuvstva v romane I. S. Turgeneva ʽDvorianskoe gnezdo’” [“The Poetics of the Image of Feeling in I. S. Turgenev’s Novel ʽA Nest of Gentry’”]. Evdokimova, O. V. Russkii klassicheskii roman: konstanty i variatsii (“Dvorianskoe gnezdo” I. S. Turgeneva) [The Russian Classical Novel: Constants and Variations (“A Nest of the Gentry” by I. S. Turgenev)]. St. Petersburg, Svoe izdatel’stvo Publ., 2025, pp. 67–78. (In Russ.) 8. Maricheva, I. V. “Elegichnost’ kak odna iz osnov stilia opery P. I. Chaikovskogo ʽEvgenii Onegin’” [“Elegy as One of the Foundations of the Style of P. I. Tchaikovsky’s Opera ‘Eugene Onegin’”]. Vestnik Cherepovetskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta, no. 9, 2009, pp. 264–269. (In Russ.) 9. Markovich, V. M. I. S. Turgenev i russkii realisticheskii roman XIX v. (30–50-e gody) [I. S. Turgenev and the Russian Realistic Novel of the 19th Century (30s–50s)]. Leningrad, Leningrad University Publ., 1982. 208 p. (In Russ.) 10. Tumanina, N. “Evgenii Onegin” [“Eugene Onegin”]. Tumanina, N. Chaikovskii. Put’ k masterstvu: 1840–1877 [Tchaikovsky. The Path to Mastery: 1840–1877]. Moscow, Academy of the Sciences of the Soviet Union Publ., 1962, pp. 490–548. (In Russ.) 11. Tur’ian, M. A. “ʽEvgenii Onegin’: Pushkin i Chaikovskii” [“ʽEugene Onegin’: Pushkin and Tchaikovsky”]. Voprosy literatury, no. 3, 1984, pp. 241–246. (In Russ.) 12. Shol’p, A. “Evgenii Onegin” P. I. Chaikovskogo. Ocherki [“Eugene Onegin” by P. I. Tchaikovsky. Essays]. Leningrad, Muzyka Publ., 1982. 167 p. (In Russ.) 13. Stanford, Charles Villiers. Pages from an Unwritten Diary. London, E. Arnold Publ., 1914, pp. 278–281. (In English)