Tuesday 30. September
19:00
/
Main Stage
Rusalka
Sara Jakubiak / Photo: Erik Berg
Dvořák’s adventurous and subterranean universe
The opera version of The Little Mermaid, Rusalka, offers both enchantingly beautiful music and a brutal story. After all, sacrificing everything for love comes at a price.
Part of your world ...
Once upon a time there was a nymph called Rusalka. In the depths of the ocean, she dreamed of a life above water. She longed to become human and conquer the prince’s heart. In the well-known aria ‘Song to the Moon’, she sings out her longing.
With the help of the sea witch Ježibaba, Rusalka gives up everything to win the prince over. But the human world turns out to be a nightmare, one of rigid conventions, power games and double standards.
Fairytale-like harmonies
We’re all familiar with the fairytale that inspired Antonín Dvořák’s opera by H. C. Andersen, The Little Mermaid, which became broadly known and popular thanks in part to the Disney version from the 1990s.
The Czech composer was famous for his beautiful harmonies and the opera is rife with long melodies and blue notes. Rusalka is reminiscent of Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde in its musical depiction of longing and the impossibility of love, through sighing semitones and lush orchestration. Yet Dvořák’s tonality includes distinctive Slavic melodies and folk elements.
Acclaimed director returns
Director Tatjana Gürbaca and set designer Klaus Grünberg together create an otherworldly universe on the Main Stage. The fairy tale is like a mirror reflecting our own world: a rapidly changing modern reality with no place for a woman like Rusalka.
- Free introduction (in Norwegian) one hour before the performance
- The production was created for English National Opera and Les Théatres de La Ville de Luxembourg. Realisation at the Staatsoper Hannover
Synopsis
The mermaid Rusalka has fallen in love with a prince and turns to the water spirit Ježibaba for help to become human, so she can be with her beloved. Ježibaba grants her wish – but at a terrible price …
Water nymphs play at the bottom of a lake. They tease their sister Rusalka, who has recently withdrawn from them. Rusalka confides only in the Water Spirit: revealing that she has fallen in love with a human – a prince who often comes to bathe in the lake. She now longs to become human herself, to gain a soul, and to be with him. The Water Spirit warns her that human souls are sinful, but Rusalka remains determined.
Rusalka seeks out the old witch Ježibaba and begs her to be transformed into a human. Ježibaba agrees but demands a sacrifice: Rusalka’s voice. Should she be rejected by the prince – which Ježibaba insists is inevitable – Rusalka will be doomed to eternal damnation, and the prince will die. Despite all warnings, Rusalka accepts the terms, despite the pain of transformation..
The prince and a friend are hunting in the forest when they catch sight of a strange creature: a white doe – the transformed Rusalka. The prince is immediately enchanted and takes the silent beauty home with him.
Rusalka has lived with the prince for a week. His servants treat this strange newcomer with suspicion, even as they prepare her for the forthcoming wedding.
The prince wonders what secrets his mute beloved is hiding. The guests who have gathered also find her odd and mock her. When a proud foreign princess flirts with the prince, he gradually turns away from Rusalka. Heartbroken, Rusalka calls once more on the Water Spirit, but this time he cannot help her – she must bear the pain alone.
The prince chooses the princess and proposes to her. After rejecting Rusalka, he suddenly falls under a strange enchantment and begs the guests to free him from it.
Rusalka has lost her human form and longs for nothing more than to return to the world of water. She seeks out Ježibaba again, who knows only one solution: to become a water nymph once more, Rusalka must kill the prince with a dagger. Rusalka refuses – and in doing so seals her fate forever.
The prince, gravely ill after their encounter, wanders through the forest searching for her. His servants have sought help from Ježibaba, but she only mocks them. At last he finds Rusalka and begs her for the kiss of death.
Rusalka yields. The prince dies peacefully, everything comes to an end – and Rusalka remains alone, facing eternity.
Price
150 - 990 kr
Language
tjsekkisk
Subtitles
norsk og engelsk
-
-
Sunday 5. October18:00 / Main Stage
-
Tuesday 7. October19:00 / Main Stage
-
Thursday 9. October19:00 / Main Stage
Intermission refreshments
Order pre-show food and drinks or to enjoy during intermission. If you want to pre-order for intermission, we recommend ordering from the bar closest to your seat in the auditorium.
The bars are open before the performance and during intermission. All advance orders are sorted alphabetically by the last name of the person placing the order. You are not permitted to bring any drinks into the auditorium.
Photo: Fursetgruppen