Spain Dvořák, Rusalka: Soloists, Chorus and Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu / Josep Pons (conductor). Gran Teatro del Liceu, Barcelona, 28.06.2025. (JMI)

With these performances of Rusalka, the Liceu’s 2024-2025 opera season has come to an end. There will still be a couple of concerts of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story that will feature two very special vocalists: Nadine Sierra and Juan Diego Flórez.
This staging of Rusalka was brilliant, particularly in the third act, thanks to the truly exceptional work of two great opera stars, Piotr Beczała and Asmik Grigorian. The set design is essentially the same for the whole opera: a large, open space with arches in the background. The setting for the scenes in the water kingdom is achieved by adding rocks to the front. The costumes are modern and attractive.
Here, Rusalka is a ballet dancer with physical problems, and her father, Vodník, is a theater director. Christof Loy’s stage direction (it is a coproduction with Madrid’s Teatro Real, Staatsoper Dresden and Valencia’s Palau de Les Arts) is fine, with some notable ballet elements and good movement. In short, it is a decent production – even brilliant in some aspects – but it lacks a key element for this opera: water.
I found Josep Pons’s musical direction to be good in general, but there was one drawback: there were moments of excessive sound in the first two acts. Overall, the Liceu Orchestra was remarkable, and the Liceu Chorus did well too.
The title character, Rusalka, is a water nymph who is obsessed with becoming human so that she can be with her beloved Prince. Soprano Asmik Grigorian’s interpretation was vocally and dramatically outstanding, and her ballet steps on pointe are astonishing. She is possibly the best Rusalka today.

Tenor Piotr Beczała was the Prince, and I would describe his performance as unbeatable from beginning to end. It is probably impossible to sing better than he did. Everything reached a level that very few, if any, singers can achieve with vocal beauty at every moment, unparalleled expressiveness and incredible ease throughout the entire range. I have had the opportunity to see him as the Prince several times (the last time eleven years ago), and I can confirm that no one measures up to him in the role. It is always a pleasure to have him on the stage.
Although the audience gave more recognition to Ježibaba than to Vodník in the final bows, in my opinion there is no doubt that the latter, the father of Rusalka, is the more important role of the two. Bass Aleksandros Stavrakakis was adequate in the part, but I missed something more than that from this fundamental character in the opera. Ježibaba was sung by mezzo-soprano Okka von der Damerau, and she was satisfactory as the sorceress.
The Foreign Princess was played by veteran star Karita Mattila who filled the stage with her personality. The couple we might call comics were Laura Orueta and David Oller, who performed well, as did Juliette Aleksayan, Laura Fleur and Alyona Abramova as the Nymphs and Manel Esteve as the Gamekeeper.
During the curtain calls, the audience paid a truly triumphant tribute to the leading couple, the great Piotr Beczała and Asmik Grigorian.
José M. Irurzun
Production:
Director – Christof Loy
Stager – Johannes Stepanek
Sets – Johannes Leiacker
Costumes – Ursula Renzenbrink
Lighting – Bernd Purkrabek
Choreography – Klevis Elmazaj
Chorus conductor – Pablo Assante
Cast:
Rusalka – Asmik Grigorian
Prince – Piotr Beczała
Vodník – Aleksandros Stavrakakis
Ježibaba – Okka von der Damerau
Foreign Princess– Karita Mattila
Gamekeeper – Manel Esteve
Marmot – Laura Orueta
Hunter – David Oller
First Nymph – Juliette Aleksanyan
Second Nymph – Laura Fleur
Third Nymph – Alyona Abramova