ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (1841–1904)

 

Rusalka

 

Lyric fairy tale in three acts

 

Libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil after Friedrich Heinrich

 

Carl de la Motte Fouqué’s tale Undine

 

Cast

First Wood Nymph - Natasha Jouhl soprano

Second Wood Nymph - Barbara Senator mezzo soprano

Third Wood Nymph - Élodie Méchain contralto

Vodnik, a water sprite - Mischa Schelomianski bass

Rusalka - Ana María Martínez soprano

Ježibaba, a witch - Larissa Diadkova mezzo-soprano

Hunter - John Mackenzie baritone

Prince Brandon - Jovanovich tenor

Gamekeeper - Alasdair Elliott tenor

Kitchen Girl - Diana Axentii soprano

Foreign Princess - Tatiana Pavlovskaya soprano

The Glyndebourne Chorus

London Philharmonic Orchestra / Jiří Bělohlávek

 

Dvořák’s opera Rusalka reaches extraordinary heights of melodic eloquence. Rusalka is also the most consciously ‘through-composed’ of Dvořák’s operas but this does not prevent Czech opera’s most famous aria the ineffably beautiful ‘Song to the Moon’, being frequently extracted from the score and sung as a stand alone aria. Sometimes thought of as a ‘one aria opera’, this is just one of many glorious arias for Rusalka, among them the moving first-act plea, ‘Your ancient wisdom everyone knows’ (‘Staleta moudrost tva vsechno vi’), made to the witch Jezibaba asking her to make her human, and her desolate lament ‘Robbed of my youth’ (‘Mladosti sve pozbavena’) at the start of Act 3.

 

Rusalka is by no means a mainstay in the operatic oeuvre but this new 2009 production and recording from Glyndebourne is destined to put this much overlooked masterpiece to the forefront of romantic repertory.

 

The recording is aided by a stellar cast. Ana María Martínez’s astonishing humanity shines through in her heart rending portrayal of Rusalka, burly tenor Brandon Jovanovich is a handsome Prince, with real Slavic flavour added with Mischa Schelomianski as Rusalka’s wise old father Vodnik, and Larissa Diadkova as the evil witch Ježíbaba, both giving exemplary performances, with Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, giving the music a wonderful emotional intensity at all the right moments.

 

‘There’s little doubt that it’s the conductor Jiří Bělohlávek who is really in charge, and under his loving direction the London Philharmonic plays with luscious warmth.’ Guardian July 2009

 

‘… Jiří Bělohlávek, whose intent is not merely to conduct the piece but to honour it as a treasured part of his heritage … we’re talking a very special alchemy around what we hear, see, and feel.’ Independent July 2009

 

‘With a cast who sing with unbridled passion, the tragic depth of Dvořák’s music is fully plumbed.’ The Times July 2009

 

Glyndebourne 3cds GFOCD007-09