Organization

Conductor

Giampaolo Bisanti

Stage director

Rodula Gaitanou

Set designer

Cordelia Chisholm

Costume designer

Lighting designer

Simon Corder

Choreographer

Gianni Santucci

Video designer

Dick Straker

Singer

Soprano

Corinne Winters

Rusalka

Tenor

Anton Rositskii

Prince

Jana Kurucová

Princess

Bass

Evgeny Stavinsky

Vodnik

Jiří Rajniš

The Gamekeeper

Hongni Wu

The Turnspit

Lucie Kaňková

First Nymph

Mezzo-soprano

Sofia Janelidze

Third Nymph

Katerina Hebelková

Second Nymph

Baritone

Alexander Marev

The Hunter

Opéra Royal de Wallonie - Liège

Orchestra

Royal Opera of Wallonia Orchestra

Others

Choeur de l'Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège

Nino Surguladze

Jezibaba

Liège

Belgium

Théâtre de la Place

Public

Luis Mariano Nomdedeu

Approved

Libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil

Rusalka, a water nymph, has fallen in love with a prince and wishes to become human. The witch Ježibaba performs a spell that forces the water nymph to remain mute. Tired of her silence, the prince turns away from her and falls in love with a foreign princess. When the Prince tries to repent, Rusalka confesses the effects of the spell and drags him under the water.

The poet and playwright Jaroslav Kvapil was inspired by the German romantic story of La Motte-Fouque, the Ondine, which was very successful throughout Europe. The Little Mermaid, a famous fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, was the most famous illustration. Antonín Dvořak, the most famous Czech composer, was looking for a libretto for his new opera. Kvapil proposed Rusalka, which immediately seduced the composer. In the spring of 1901, the magnificent and moving work immediately met with triumphant success and today is one of the most performed Slavic operas.

A large part of the work was composed during the summer, in the countryside. Not far from his home, the composer often strolled around a lake that fascinated him. There he found, in imagining the undine and all the aquatic mythology, the inspiration and the atmosphere of his sublime drama.

If the famous “Chant a la Lune” has become one of the favorite arias of romantic lyric art, the entire opera is worth a visit, happily playing with a sublime orchestration and masterfully highlighting a vocalite particularly adapted to each character.

FOR THE FIRST TIME AT THE ORW!
NOUVELLE PRODUCTION
OPÉRA ROYAL DE WALLONIE-LIÈGE
WITH THE SUPPORT OF TAX SHELTER OF THE FEDERAL BELGIAN GOVERNMENT AND BEL ARTS FUND

English

Rusalka by Dvořák, From (2024/2024), Directed by Rodula Gaitanou,, Conductor Giampaolo Bisanti, Théâtre de la Place, Liège, Belgium

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble

Program, About & Synopsis

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues