Kristine Opolais stars in a new production of the opera that first won her international acclaim, Dvořák’s fairy-tale opera about the tragic water nymph Rusalka. Sir Mark Elder conducts Mary Zimmerman’s new staging, which also stars Brandon Jovanovich as the human prince who captures Rusalka’s heart; Katarina Dalayman as Rusalka’s rival, the Foreign Princess; Eric Owens as the Water Sprite, Rusalka’s father; and Jamie Barton as the duplicitous witch Ježibaba.
A typical example of late Romanticism, Rusalka is Dvořak’s most staged opera. The composer was very popular in America during his lifetime due to his many visits and concerts. He called Rusalka “a lyric fairy-tale” and in it he developed into music the popular legend of the mermaid, who had fallen tragically in love with a human being. He used melodies close to the Czech folklore, as well as more universal themes, in order to interpret the clash between man and the supernatural. Rusalka’s aria Song to the Moon is one of the most popular scenes in opera and it has been performed by the world’s most distinguished sopranos.
Rusalka… catapulted Kristine Opolais to stardom in the opera world overnight.