Organization

Conductor

Maria Sensi Sellner

Stage director

Andrew Nienaber

Singer

Soprano

Rachele Schmiege

Rusalka

Tenor

Stefan Barner

Prince

Mezzo-soprano

Laurel Semerdjian

Jezibaba

Bass

Michael Scarcelle

Vodnik

Natalie Polito

Princess

Orchestra

Resonance Chamber Orchestra

Resonance Works

Czech

Pittsburgh

United States

Charity Randall Theatre

Public

Approved

In May 2018, Resonance Works presented the Pittsburgh premiere of Dvořák’s Rusalka, the story of a water nymph who sacrifices everything for the love of a human Prince.  Known for its famous “Song to the Moon”, Rusalka is a mythical masterpiece that draws inspiration from Slavic mythology (with many similarities to Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid.)      As this was also the first production in Pittsburgh of an opera in Czech, we made wonderful connections with the strong Slavic community in the area, including the honorary Czech consulate.  Our Rusalka received not only critical acclaim, but also a large number of outstanding audience comments about our cast and the production overall.  As this piece is a relative rarity, all of our cast were making their role debuts. Stage director Andrew Nienaber, scenic designer Susan Perry, and lighting designer Kate Devlin Matz met the challenge of creating both a human and supernatural world with great effect.

English

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Ensemble