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Review of Onegin (Magnus Fiennes)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... only if you are familiar with the film itself and are seeking the intelligent collection of Russian folk and classical pieces used as source material in the story.

Avoid it... if you are taking a blind shot in the dark at Magnus Fiennes' score, a contribution that is largely inconsequential on the album.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Onegin: (Magnus Fiennes) Based on famed Russian poet Aleksandr Pushkin's "Yevgeny Onegin," the 1999 arthouse film Onegin is a predictable tragedy involving mistimed, unrealized love. Its setting in 19th century Russia is the most interesting aspect of the production, with values in cinematography and other technical elements that are extremely well presented. The film was the ultimate family affair; it represents the directorial debut of Martha Fiennes, who cast her star brother, Ralph Fiennes, in the title role of this film and asked her other brother, Magnus Fiennes, to write the score and, in turn, her sister Maya Fiennes performs the piano solos for that score. The story of Onegin is well known and won't rattle the cages for anyone still unfamiliar with it. A Russian aristocrat meets a girl in the countryside. Girl falls for boy. Boy rejects girl because he's not ready for marriage. Several years later, they happen upon each other again. Boy falls for girl. But girl is married and rejects him. It's the type of plotline that is so old by now that it alone cannot sustain a feature film. Thus, the Fiennes family attempted to make Onegin into a piece of art in each of its other parts, including its music. The director decided early not to attempt a conventional score for Onegin, instead using a combination of three elements to accentuate the basic emotions of mostly the film's setting: source music from the era, ambient sound design, and minimal original score. Because the director wanted to utilize music for the location that is as accurate as possible, a variety of period classical and folk pieces by Russian composers is scattered amongst original orchestral and electronic compositions by Magnus Fiennes. Some of the original Russian melodies have been arranged specially for performance in Onegin, while Fiennes' score offers just enough material in between to link the traditional themes together. Those traditional pieces were selected early in the process for actual usage within the film.

With the score and sound design weaving in and out occasionally throughout the film and its soundtrack album, the traditional classical elements quickly take charge. Fiennes' score was created with the intent of providing an aural atmosphere for the moods of the scenes (rather than taking part in portraying the setting or specific actions). In these regards, the score flows seamlessly with little interruption. Unfortunately, it also lacks much character. The piano performances of the title theme (along with string variants thereafter) have little personality, and the orchestra never captures the intensity or complexity of typical, emotionally challenging atmospheric scores. Thematically, the work is extremely subtle, and textures are what ultimately define it. Accents ranging from the regionally-specific duduk and balilika to an acoustic guitar are joined by thumping synthetic heartbeat effects and general synthetic droning in both the bass and treble regions in some cues. These latter elements are definitely out of place with the strong sense of the region and time conveyed by the remainder of the music. Only in the final regular score track, "Rejected," do the players of the orchestra begin to build a satisfying mood of significant emotional weight. When combined with the highly energetic Russian folk and classical pieces, the score is mundane and drab, causing the album to be disjointed when experienced from start to finish. Although not a negative characteristic in many cases, Onegin takes too long to get started and could very well bore the listener in its minimalistic string meanderings. Even in "The Devil's Trill," a piece with which the director and composer were painstakingly true to the young age of the performer, is a shatteringly unsettling listening experience by comparison. It is no surprise that with so much attention given to the functionality of individual moments within the picture, the album is less cohesive than it might have been. For Magnus Fiennes, a general ambivalence towards Onegin in critical circles didn't help his career blossom much due to this opportunity from his family.  **

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 56:16

• 1. Onegin's Theme (0:56) • 2. Maldova - The Journey - traditional, performed by Loyko (3:46) • 3. La Nouvelle Heloise (3:10) • 4. The Peddler - traditional, performed by Sarah Gorby (3:31) • 5. Unquiet Heart (1:25) • 6. Svidayne (The Summerhouse) - traditional (1:52) • 7. Name Day Waltz - performed by Parley of Instruments (2:12) • 8. Duel (4:54) • 9. Sketches (3:17) • 10. Fantasy Waltz - traditional, performed by Parley of Instruments (3:40) • 11. St. Petersburg Polonaise - traditional, performed by Parley of Instruments (3:13) • 12. Strange Fellow (1:47) • 13. The Devil's Trill - traditional (5:04) • 14. Onegin's Letter (2:11) • 15. Tatyana Skating (2:59) • 16. Mir 1st So Wunderbar - from the 'Opera Fidello' (4:37) • 17. Rejected (4:23) • 18. Onegin's Theme (Reprise) (2:43)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes notes about the music and film, written by the director and composer in October, 1999.

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