Czech Republic Festival Janáček Brno 2024 [3] – Dvořák, Rusalka: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Janáček Opera / Marko Ivanović (conductor), Janáček Theatre, Brno, 23.11.2024. (GT)
Production:
Director and Set design – David Radok
Costume design – Zuzana Ježková
Lighting design – Přemysl Janda
Choreography – Andrea Miltnerová
Chorus master – Pavel Koňárek
Cast:
Rusalka – Jana Šrejma Kačirková
The Prince – Peter Berger
Vodník – Jan Šťáva
Ježibaba – Václava Krejčí Housková
The Foreign Princess – Eliška Gattringerová
First wood sprite – Doubravka Novotná
Second wood sprite – Ivana Pavlů
Third wood sprite – Monika Jägerová
Hunter – Tadeáš Hoza
Jaroslav Kvapil’s libretto for Rusalka originates from a visit to Denmark in 1899 where he was reminded of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, and the short story by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué’s Undine. This subject of water spirits, rusalki and sirens has appeared in age-old fairy tales in different countries and has been used by several composers, the most early of which is Undine by E.T.A. Hoffmann in 1816, and there have been other operas by Lortzing, Dargomyszhky, Tchaikovsky, Lvov and others. Kvapil was influenced in particular by symbolism, and impressionism through their melancholic, fairy-tale imagery. Symbolism was a form of using all the senses through symbols and mediating between the real world and the spiritual world. Typical of this aspect of symbolism is the relationship between the motifs of death and eroticism which appear in the final scene of Dvořák’s Rusalka.
The opera was first staged in Brno in December 1904 at the Theatre on Veveli, and since which there have been eighteen productions in the city, this latest staging was premiered on 5 April 2024.
One was first drawn to the opening scene’s association with Wagner’s Das Rheingold by the three wood sprites and Dvořák’s gloriously evocative scoring enhanced by the harps and lush strings. As the curtain rose, the scene was of a great chamber, yet this looked onto the lake in the foreground in which the wood sprites frolicked in a manner familiar to the opening stage of Wagner’s Ring. The scene had three piers decorated by shrubbery and the windows of the house look outwards to the Prince’s house. The singing of the wood sprites was beautiful, and Jan Šťáva’s Vodník had a commanding presence. A strange figure lurking in the window was the spectre of Rusalka’s alter ego looking inwards. Searching for a white doe, the Prince enters and on seeing the water nymph Rusalka he falls in love with her. The scene with Ježibaba giving the potion to Rusalka and her departure with the Prince was both innovative and disturbing.
In Act II, the walls of the house disappear, and we saw the tremendous depth of the stage open up to reveal the Prince’s Castle in the far background while in the gardens – threateningly – the Prince’s guests attired uniformly in black costumes had an ominous presence in the weirdly executed choreography of their dance. These self-important figures represent high society, and they listened to Rusalka and her lover, the Prince, making love behind the door. As the Foreign Princess tries to cast her spell over the Prince, tragedy develops for Rusalka as the Prince and the Foreign Princess become lovers and Rusalka is cast out.
After Rusalka has been scorned by the Prince, in Act III, following Ježibaba’s offer of a knife to kill the Prince – and now appearing as a water nymph – Rusalka invites a kiss from the Prince, and he dies, leaving Rusalka distraught. Once again, Rusalka’s alter ego appears in the window who closes the shutters, and the opera ends.
I was most impressed by the Prince of Peter Berger whose lyrical tenor combined with his finely portrayed characterisation of a womaniser and rogue was superb. Of the female roles, the Ježibaba of Václava Krejćí Housková was magnificent – she is a great actress with a superb contralto, and in every scene evinced menace. I was very impressed again by Eliška Gattringerová as the Foreign Princess after her stunning characterisation of Kostelnička in the Olomouc Opera’s production of Jenůfa (review here), she revealed she is a flawless actress and a luxuriantly assured mezzo-soprano. The Rusalka of Jana Šrejma Kačirková was excellent, and her ‘Song to the Moon’ was wonderful – her opulent softly toned soprano enriched this performance, and she was a superb actor throughout. The Vodník of Jan Šťáva was excellent, his cavernous, almost stentorian bass was instantly impressive, and his portrayal of an over abusive and oversexed water goblin was masterful as if playing Alberich in Wagner’s Rheingold as he attempts to cast his spell over the wood sprites. The three wood sprites sang magnificently – reminding one of the Rhinemaidens – in the same tonality of Wagner’s operas. Their playing with the Vodník and their dancing around the stage was well crafted. An additional feature of this staging was that alter ego figure of Rusalka who appeared and then disappeared as Rusalka discovered her love for the Prince.
The staging was simple and very effective, especially in Act II where David Radok made full use of the Janáček Theatre’s cavernous stage with the chorus dancing and strutting as the Prince’s guests. In this staging, Radok was inspired by the 2012 production by Lars-Åke Thessman at the Göteborg Opera. Last year here in Brno, Radok impressed me with his Salome – his gift is to allow the audience to appreciate the storytelling of the opera without excessive decoration or staging. Zuzana Ježková’s costumes were masterfully adapted to suit the wondrous fairy-tale scenes and suited the narrative with the most gorgeous being those for the Prince’s guests with their black silk dresses and top hats giving an almost bleak and indeed threatening vision and added to the societal resentment of the young lovers. Striking too was Ježibaba’s black dress adding to the evil temperament of the witch. Reminding us that this is a fairy tale, the soft green colours given to the wood sprites and to Rusalka were appropriate to their characters and set off the contrast between them and the society she encounters.
The choreography by Andrea Miltnerová added to this stunningly, with the Prince’s guests moving in swaggering fashion or dancing rather morbidly and shunning the young people; the movement onstage and the attempt to hear the lovers behind the door was very effective. In all, this was a terrific production with excellent singing enhanced by magnificent orchestral playing, most notably the harps, and the woodwind group in bringing out all the glories of the score. This was splendidly conducted by Marco Ivanović who brought out every hint of colour in Dvořák’s writing.
This production could hardly be bettered, David Radok brings out all the intriguing symbolism of this fairy tale, introducing innovative elements which bring out sinister aspects of the people, and the darkness of the characters, most of all the Foreign Princess, and that of Ježibaba. Most of all, this is a fairy tale which can be renewed through the ages and most certainly this production from Brno will remain memorable in the history of operas from the pen of Antonin Dvořák.
Gregor Tassie