UBC Opera: Rusalka

LYRIC FAIRY TALE IN THREE ACTS
SUNG IN CZECH WITH ENGLISH SURTITLES

Antonín Dvořák  | Composer
Jaroslav Kvapil  | Librettist

After Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué’s Undine

UBC Opera Ensemble
Norbert Baxa  | Conductor
Nancy Hermiston | Director
With Members of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra

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Romantic, ethereal, and hauntingly beautiful, Dvořák’s dramatic music soars with melody, romance, and longing. Rusalka is not only Dvořák’s finest and most enduringly popular opera but also one of the most deeply moving operas of all. One need only hear Rusalka’s renowned “Song to the Moon” to understand the depth and beauty of her eponymous opera!

Rusalka tells the story of The Little Mermaid (as seen in Slavic mythology) who gives her voice to a wicked witch for a chance at love with a mortal Prince. Unfortunately for Rusalka, the similarities to Disney’s iconic adaptation end there: Rusalka’s tale is rife with woe. Her desperate longing to experience true love plunges her into an emotional storm, until she must choose whether or not to make the ultimate sacrifice for love. While tragic, Rusalka nonetheless reminds all who experience the opera of the power and joy of love.