The libretto for Tchaikovsky's "lyric scenes" consists of large and small extracts from 56 stanzas of Pushkin's verse-novel, with a few additions by the composer and more than a few changes of emphasis. A lot was left out, particularly the imagery of Tatiana's dreams, and it's this that the late Steven Pimlott tried to restore in his highly original 2006 staging for the Royal Opera. The images chosen by him and his designer, Antony McDonald, hint at a young woman's inner world - everything from flamboyant costumes and radiant colours to friendly animals and romantic encounters, all specified by Pushkin - in a way intended also to reflect and illuminate the musical cross-references of Tchaikovsky's score.

So much of Pimlott's concept has been drained from this first revival, directed by Elaine Kidd, that the point and heart of his always fragile vision has been lost. What we're left with is a standard Onegin with a few unexplained quirks. The cross-referencing might as well never have been there. It's a disappointing memorial to a fine director.