This Christmas, Semyon Bychkov returns to Covent Garden to conduct the first opera that he ever conducted, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. Given as a concert performance in Leningrad in 1972 when Bychkov was just 20 years old, he has since conducted the work in Paris and Florence, and in 1992 made a landmark recording of it for Philipps while Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris.

Joining Semyon Byckov this season at the Royal Opera House is Dmitri Hvorostkovsky as Eugene Onegin, Nicole Car as Tatiana, Michael Fabiano as Lensky, Oksana Volkova as Olga and Ferrucio Furlanetto as Gremin. Performances take place on 19, 22 and 30 December, and in the New Year on 2, 4 and 7 January.