The new production of Antonín Dvořák’s most famous opera, which premieres this Friday, March 8, at Prague’s National Theater wants to emphasize the deeper level of the story and focus on the psychological development of the heroine. Rusalka, directed by the creative duo Skutr, also focuses on the clash between the human world and the supernatural. Viewers expecting a fairy tale may be disappointed, the creators warn.
The Friday and Sunday premieres are followed by the nearest reruns on March 16, 20 and 26.
The new production of Rusalka on the first scene alternates between two previous productions – the traditionally conceived version by Zdenek Troška from 2005 and the more abstract concept by Jiří Heřman. The first one, in which the director of folk comedies Kameňák imprinted his fairy-tale vision of Rusalčina svět, was one of the most successful titles of the State Opera and was accessible to children and audiences who went to the opera for the first time. On the contrary, Jiří Heřman’s critically acclaimed version from 2009 aimed more at a more demanding audience, betting on stylistic purity and a more modern, symbolic interpretation accentuating the contrast of the elements with human emotions. She too had success with 131 sold-out reruns.
Two contrasting productions relatively soon after each other could be created because the State Opera was not yet connected to the National Theater at the time. This week, a novelty is being added to their joint repertoire by the current artistic directors of drama, the Skutr duo formed by Lukáš Trpišovský and Martin Kukučka. It should combine both approaches, although it follows rather Heřman’s style.
The creative tandem has already demonstrated its skill in directing Czech classics with the drama adaptation of Kytice, currently the most successful play at the National Theatre, which is almost always sold out.
Rusalka tells the story of a forest fairy who is willing to give up everything, including her supernatural nature, for the sake of a man. However, the directors decided to treat her story as a myth and highlight the level in which the archetypal behavior of the characters, transmitted from generation to generation, is projected. At the same time, they accentuate the clash of two worlds that cannot understand each other in the long term.
The author of the scenography of the new Rusalka is Martin Chocholoušek, and the lighting design is Karel Šimek. | Photo: Pavel Hejný
“In Rusalka, we see a myth about the innermost desires, passions and hardly transgressable boundaries between man and the elements,” says Lukáš Trpišovský. “We are interested in the psychological level of life experiences. Many stages of the story contain initiatory elements of the development of Rusalka’s journey. It passes de facto from childhood through adolescence to adulthood with all the joys and disappointments. We deal with the question of what is the human soul that Rusalka acquires, what a wounded soul looks like and what will help it,” outlines Trpišovský.
According to him, the theme of mirroring permeates the production – not only as a reminder of the water surface, but also in a deeper sense of the word. “Rusalka sees herself in the fate of Ježibaba, who once also probably followed the voice of her heart, fell in love and was disappointed. Just like in the character of the Foreign Princess, who only plays cynically with men,” explains Trpišovský, according to whom the creators did not only want illustrate a fairy tale.
The chosen path can remind famous production Robert Carsen from the Opéra Bastille in Paris, who worked quite prominently with the motif of mirroring in 2002. Trpišovský was not directly inspired by Carsen, but he starts from the same point: events in Europe at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when psychoanalysis begins to resonate in the old continent, Sigmund Freud publishes the book Interpretation of Dreams and attention generally turns to the human subconscious and the deeper meaning of archetypes or fairy tales.
Forty-eight-year-old Tomáš Netopil, one of the most sought-after Czech conductors on the domestic and international stage, returns to the National Theater after 12 years with a new production of Rusalka. “It is always a difficult task to re-immerse yourself in a notorious score and search for the authenticity and purity of Dvořák’s musical notation,” he says. “I feel like an archaeologist who carefully and meticulously blows away the sand and dust so that in the end the beauty of the object, hidden for a long time under the soil, is revealed to him. The color of the entire score is extraordinary. I do not know of another opera in the entire history of music that, with its rich symphonic structure so closely connected and supported the singing and theatrical component of the entire story,” he adds.
The directors appreciate Netopil’s contribution. “I was surprised how many impressive moments he was able to get out of the score. You can see that Antonín Dvořák really must have known what was going on in the world, that Claude Debussy or Maurice Ravel were already working at that time,” says Trpišovský, adding that echoes of impressionism can be found in Rusalka.
Top music performances are promised by the names of the soloists. The main role will be taken by soprano Kateřina Kněžíková, alternating with Alžběta Poláčková. Both are vocally well-disposed for the character of Rusalka, both in lyrical and more dramatic, tense positions. After all, both of them have already staged it successfully – Kněžíková in Ostrava, Poláčková on the turntable in Český Krumlov, both also acted in previous productions of the National Theatre.
Alžběta Poláčková as Rusalka and František Zahradníček as the waterman. | Photo: Pavel Hejný
“The new production by the director duo Skutr will be included in the galaxy of their typical work, which I admire and feel very free in. It will show us a world that is uncompromising, cruel to the point of absurdity, but also deep, true and uplifting in its essence,” believes Kněžíková.
He perceives Rusalka primarily as a girl who comes to a realization and decides to fight her fate as best she can. “I don’t see her as a fairy-tale character, but as a being who encounters ups and downs in life, which shape and harden her,” he adds.
According to Alžběta Poláčková, the new Rusalka at the National Theater has the ambition to be beautiful above all. “I dare to say that it’s going well. And it doesn’t need a lake or willows,” says Poláčková. After all, the viewer will not find any of these elements on the scene from Martin Chocholoušek’s workshop.
Prince, who is not only a hunter and a self-centered flutist, but a man looking for the meaning of life and an escape from the human world in the beauty of nature, will be portrayed by Aleš Briscein and Ukrainian singer Mykhailo Malafij. The hags will be performed by Lucie Hilscherová in alternation with Jana Sýkorová, followed by Kateřina Jalovcová with Ester Pavlů. Waterman is sung by Peter Kellner and František Zahradníček.
Rusalka, which had its world premiere on March 31, 1901 at the National Theatre, was written by Antonín Dvořák in the final period of his work with librettist Jaroslav Kvapil. He was inspired by a number of ancient fairy tale motifs and legends, the greatest influence of which is attributed to The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen and the ballads of Karel Jaromír Erben from Kytice.
As with many classical works, Kvapil and Dvořák managed to achieve that their Rusalka can be interpreted in a myriad of ways. It always depends on the creators which of the mysterious motives they emphasize and which path they take.
