In December 1877, in Italy, the great Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) completed his Fourth Symphony, and a month later the opera "Eugen Onegin" which he designated as "lyrical scenes". Based on the poem by Alexander Pushkin, "Eugen Onegin" was first produced at the Maly Theatre by studen you ts of the Moscow Conservatory. The conductor was Nikolai Rubinstein. Supplied By: SCRSS - Society for Co-operation in Russian & Soviet Studies