Act I
A summer day idyll in the Russian province spent doing what one does on such days: In the midst of an excursion of country folk, the landowner Larina chats with her faithful domestic Filippevna, her daughters Olga and Tatyana’s nurse. The two old women make jam and take a trip down memory lane remembering how they yearned for love and were tested by disappointment. Larina's daughters sing a song, the fun-loving Olga dances, her introverted sister Tatjana prefers to leaf through novels. Olga's fiancé, the young poet Lenski, appears declaring love to his betrothed yet again. He’s accompanied by an unknown person whom he introduces as his friend and neighbour: Yevgeny Onegin.
That very evening, Tatyana’s fate is sealed. She is in love, she confesses to her nurse Filippevna, and writes a love letter to Onegin overnight. But the next day Onegin coolly rejects Tatiana's revelation.
Act II
The Larin family hosts a party on Tatyana’s name day; the guests drink and dance and the Frenchman Triquet recites a couplet for Tatyana to everyone’s delight. Onegin alone is not the least amused and flirts with Olga to Lensky’s great annoyance. The two men argue, scandalizing the guests, and Lensky challenges Onegin to a duel. This ends in catastrophe: Onegin kills his friend.
Act III
After years of aimless travelling, Yevgeny Onegin arrives in Saint Petersburg at a ball in the Prince Gremin’s house. Gremin is newly married to Tatyana. Alone, confused and in love, Onegin meets Tatyana and begs her to come with him. Both remember that summer in the country with tears in their eyes. Tatiana, once rebuffed, rejects Onegin: It is irrevocably too late. She is married and Onegin's fate is no longer tied to hers...