Antonin Dvorak's 'Rusalka' is a lovely opera, if not quite one of the all-time greats.
It is best known for the beautiful soprano aria "Song to the Moon", a favourite in the soprano repertoire and sung in recitals, auditions and competitions everywhere, and to a lesser extent Vodnik the Water Gnome's Act 2 aria, but the opera generally should be heard and seen in its entirety more. While slight, like a lot of fairy tales (some people have likened 'Rusalka' to a darker version of 'The Little Mermaid' and that's pretty apt, the story atmospherically sucks you right in and has a ethereally charming quality to it complete with an affecting ending. And the music is stunning, those two arias are the highlights but the whole score is enchanting, being very characteristic of his Slavonic dances and nationalistic folk tunes and at times like a symphony set to words.
'Rusalka' has a good DVD competition, with all the performances available being very worthwhile, but while the modern stagings have worked surprisingly well on the most part to me 'Rusalka' works better and has more magic when traditionally staged. 'Rusalka' has been seen before in the interesting Metropolitan Opera HD Live series, in 2014 with Renee Fleming and Piotr Beczala in a beautiful traditional production. Although this 2017 production has a good deal to recommend, it is one of my least favourite 'Rusalkas' personally seen (personal favourite is the 1977 Petr Weigl film, sheer operatic beauty that deserves a DVD release) and not only is very much inferior to the previous Met production it also is a missed opportunity. At this point, Season 11 has been a mixed bag, with the highlight being the transfixing triumph 'L'Amour de Loin', with 'Romeo et Juliette' a close second. Most disappointing was 'Tristan Und Isolde', musically outstanding but visually and too often dramatically disastrous.
Starting with this 'Rusalka's' good points, there are moments where the visuals are lovely. The lighting in particular is stunningly effective and there are some striking colours that are both vibrant and atmospheric. The Act 1 setting has moments of real beauty, like "Song to the Moon" and Rusalka's first encounter with the Prince, while Rusalka's and the Princess' costumes are quite appealing.
The orchestral playing is also a highlight, particularly good were the exquisitely subtle strings throughout and the thrilling brass in Act 2. Much of the singing is very good, and the performances of a high standard, the only reservation vocally being signs of fatigue at times in Kristine Opolais' voice and for my liking, even for an unsubtle role, Katrina Dalayman's Princess was a little too camp on occasion.
Opolais mostly sings with a beautiful gleam and her top notes have radiance, she has been better but also worse (primarily in ROH's tacky and vulgar 2014 production of 'Manon Lescaut' available on DVD, opposite Jonas Kaufmann, who was also not at his best). Her acting is hardly lacking in passion, the other-worldliness and poignancy is very much there. She has a worthy partner in Brandon Jovanovich, a name relatively new to me, his voice is capable of ring and tenderness and he cuts a dashing figure on stage.
Jamie Barton's magnificent Jezhibaba is the standout in support, her chest voice is thrilling in every sense of the word and not only is she formidable but she seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself. Eric Owens is saddled with awkward and static staging and a hideously garish costume (he would have been much better heavily made up like John Relyea was to great effect in the 2014 production) as Vodnik, but he is sympathetic and dignified in particularly his Act 2 aria and his singing is resonant and authoritative. All the lesser roles like the nymph trio and the gatekeeper are very well filled.
Unfortunately they are hampered by especially Mary Zimmerman's staging. There was a real sense that she had no idea what to do with it most of the time, with most of it being very static and cold with everything at barely surface level but substance was not to be found anywhere. The ethereal and darker aspects of the opera are also nowhere in sight, some of Act 3 is distracting, Vodnik's direction is insultingly awkward, Rusalka's transformation has unintentional creepiness and the final scene is filled with cheap sentimentality. This was empty, dull and even amateurish staging.
While visually there are some striking things, the sets are lacking in detail mostly and the costumes similarly are mostly a garish mish-mash of styles, Vodnik faring the absolute worst. Mark Elder's conducting was lacking too, too heavy-handed, when the score was at times in need of a lighter touch, and tempo-wise it had a tendency to be much too leaden which makes the score lose its rhythmic energy.
Overall, great performances just about make the production worth seeing but it has a few huge problems that make it a missed opportunity. 6/10 Bethany Cox
It is best known for the beautiful soprano aria "Song to the Moon", a favourite in the soprano repertoire and sung in recitals, auditions and competitions everywhere, and to a lesser extent Vodnik the Water Gnome's Act 2 aria, but the opera generally should be heard and seen in its entirety more. While slight, like a lot of fairy tales (some people have likened 'Rusalka' to a darker version of 'The Little Mermaid' and that's pretty apt, the story atmospherically sucks you right in and has a ethereally charming quality to it complete with an affecting ending. And the music is stunning, those two arias are the highlights but the whole score is enchanting, being very characteristic of his Slavonic dances and nationalistic folk tunes and at times like a symphony set to words.
'Rusalka' has a good DVD competition, with all the performances available being very worthwhile, but while the modern stagings have worked surprisingly well on the most part to me 'Rusalka' works better and has more magic when traditionally staged. 'Rusalka' has been seen before in the interesting Metropolitan Opera HD Live series, in 2014 with Renee Fleming and Piotr Beczala in a beautiful traditional production. Although this 2017 production has a good deal to recommend, it is one of my least favourite 'Rusalkas' personally seen (personal favourite is the 1977 Petr Weigl film, sheer operatic beauty that deserves a DVD release) and not only is very much inferior to the previous Met production it also is a missed opportunity. At this point, Season 11 has been a mixed bag, with the highlight being the transfixing triumph 'L'Amour de Loin', with 'Romeo et Juliette' a close second. Most disappointing was 'Tristan Und Isolde', musically outstanding but visually and too often dramatically disastrous.
Starting with this 'Rusalka's' good points, there are moments where the visuals are lovely. The lighting in particular is stunningly effective and there are some striking colours that are both vibrant and atmospheric. The Act 1 setting has moments of real beauty, like "Song to the Moon" and Rusalka's first encounter with the Prince, while Rusalka's and the Princess' costumes are quite appealing.
The orchestral playing is also a highlight, particularly good were the exquisitely subtle strings throughout and the thrilling brass in Act 2. Much of the singing is very good, and the performances of a high standard, the only reservation vocally being signs of fatigue at times in Kristine Opolais' voice and for my liking, even for an unsubtle role, Katrina Dalayman's Princess was a little too camp on occasion.
Opolais mostly sings with a beautiful gleam and her top notes have radiance, she has been better but also worse (primarily in ROH's tacky and vulgar 2014 production of 'Manon Lescaut' available on DVD, opposite Jonas Kaufmann, who was also not at his best). Her acting is hardly lacking in passion, the other-worldliness and poignancy is very much there. She has a worthy partner in Brandon Jovanovich, a name relatively new to me, his voice is capable of ring and tenderness and he cuts a dashing figure on stage.
Jamie Barton's magnificent Jezhibaba is the standout in support, her chest voice is thrilling in every sense of the word and not only is she formidable but she seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself. Eric Owens is saddled with awkward and static staging and a hideously garish costume (he would have been much better heavily made up like John Relyea was to great effect in the 2014 production) as Vodnik, but he is sympathetic and dignified in particularly his Act 2 aria and his singing is resonant and authoritative. All the lesser roles like the nymph trio and the gatekeeper are very well filled.
Unfortunately they are hampered by especially Mary Zimmerman's staging. There was a real sense that she had no idea what to do with it most of the time, with most of it being very static and cold with everything at barely surface level but substance was not to be found anywhere. The ethereal and darker aspects of the opera are also nowhere in sight, some of Act 3 is distracting, Vodnik's direction is insultingly awkward, Rusalka's transformation has unintentional creepiness and the final scene is filled with cheap sentimentality. This was empty, dull and even amateurish staging.
While visually there are some striking things, the sets are lacking in detail mostly and the costumes similarly are mostly a garish mish-mash of styles, Vodnik faring the absolute worst. Mark Elder's conducting was lacking too, too heavy-handed, when the score was at times in need of a lighter touch, and tempo-wise it had a tendency to be much too leaden which makes the score lose its rhythmic energy.
Overall, great performances just about make the production worth seeing but it has a few huge problems that make it a missed opportunity. 6/10 Bethany Cox
