Last Updated on February 23, 2025
Waterworld – Dvorák’s Rusalka
Rather like tomatoes right now, water nymphs are normally in short supply. Then half a dozen come along at once… It’s been something of a sub-aquatic week with the press night of the ENO’s triumphant production of The Rhinegold at the Coliseum and last night’s opening of co-creators and directors Natalie Abrahami and choreographer Ann Yee’s eco-friendly Rusalka at Covent Garden. Dvorák’s gloriously scored ninth opera in three acts is second only to The Bartered Bride in the ‘most performed Czech opera’ rankings but is still a relatively rare bird (or should I say nymph).
Rusalka premiered in Prague in 1901 but didn’t receive its UK premiere until 1959 at Sadler’s Wells with the Royal Opera House waiting until 2012 to put on its first fully staged production. Jaroslav Kvapil’s libretto builds on the stories of Czech folklorists Karel Jaromír Erben and Bozena Nemcová and shares plot points with Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, first Disneyfied in 1989 and with a live-action remake out this year, and Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué’s 1811 novella Undine. All the stories feature a nymph or mermaid who falls in love with a human with tragic consequences – well not in the Disney version obviously…and in both The Little Mermaid and Rusalka the heroine has to sacrifice her voice for love. All the lead characters are fatally attracted to humankind and are willing to suffer great loss to transition into being human. Rusalka also features a number of profound moral choices that create pivot points in the drama.
Abrahami and Yee have taken a critical ecological perspective on the narrative with a viewpoint that foregrounds the way humans attempt to control the natural world and the negative outcomes that emerge from this practice. We know this because the opera programme was made from recycled paper and wasn’t its usual shiny self and the set was made from recyclable materials. But how did this eco-worthiness translate onto the stage?
The opening was simply stunning. Two aerialists, representing Rusalka and the Prince, meet underwater in her unpolluted lake and swim in a state of bliss under the vast expanse of the Garden’s proscenium arch, twisting, diving and then ascending up high. Conductor Semyon Bychkov pulled the emotion and drama out of the orchestra during the overture to create something truly magical. We then cut to the surface for the first act. It’s set in a meadow by the lake where a trio of wood spirits Vuvu Mpofu, Gabriele Kupsyte and Anne Marie Stanley are engaging in Wagnerian vocal high-jinks to great effect and teasing their father Vodník, a water goblin. Set Designer Chloe Lamford has created a forest glade rather than a meadow, with trailing vines and atmospheric lighting from Paule Constable. The spirited trio are decked out in slightly comedic outfits constructed out of greenery and flowers by costume designer Annemarie Woods to create an aesthetic that touches on Victorian fairy-tale artwork; although the costume for the watery patriarch Vodník, given a stentorian performance from bass Aleksei Isaev, has him looking more like Legolas’ grandfather. Everyone needs a dad like Vodnik.
Asmik Grigorian as Rusalka, who we loved in Jenufa, had been unwell for the dress rehearsal and seemed vocally underpowered from my perch in the balcony compared to her usual robust self. She inhabited the part of the repressed nymph fully from a dramatic perspective and I’m sure she will recover fully soon. Even the character’s main aria “Song to the Moon” (“Mesícku na nebi hlubokém”) suffered from a lack of magic that characterised the languorous first act.
David Butt Philip, a Jette Parker Young Artist, made a good showing as the prince. His tenor voice is dark-hued which brings a depth to the Prince creating a conflicted rather than a foppish characterisation of a young man who can’t deal with his beloved’s lack of desire. His at his most affecting when in existential agony, he kisses Rusalka at the end of the third act knowing it will lead to his death
Mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly was full of Vivienne Westwoodish mischief in the role of Jezibaba, the wise witch, who enables Rusalka’s transition from nymph to human. Connolly comes into her own vocally in the final act when her character offers Rusalka the moral dilemma of killing the Prince to change back from her final status as a wraith to being a nymph.
Emma Bell was brilliant as the Duchess. The British soprano with a fabulous back-combed hairdo gave a commanding performance in the role of the aristocrat who unwittingly wins the Prince’s heart, dropping him with disdain when she realises his true intentions.
Comic relief was provided Hongni Wu as the servant Kuchtík and Ross Ramgobin as her uncle Hajny who approach the fearsome Jezibaba for help in saving the Prince from his fate. This is an uneven production with sublime moments and some terrific singing and playing. It feels as if it needs to be run in, but is worth seeing for the music alone.
21 February – 7 March
Royal Opera House
Bow Street
London
WC2E 9DD
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