Opera by A. Dvořák
The National Theatre in Prague | Opera and Ballet
200 minutes | Available
In Czech, surtitles in Czech, English The National Theatre in Prague has performed the piece ever since 1901, when it hosted its world premiere. Inspired by ancient fabulous motifs and legends, particularly by H. C. Andersen’s tale The Little Mermaid and K. J. Erben’s ballads from the collection The Bouquet, the librettist Jaroslav Kvapil created an enthralling poem of exceptional linguistic and intellectual qualities. His text served as a great basis for Antonín Dvořák, a master of melody and colourful instrumentation, who went on to conceive his finest opera. (Its popularity among Czech audiences can only be compared with that of Bedřich Smetana’s The Bartered Bride.) As in the case of other classic works, the genius of Kvapil and Dvořák’s Rusalka is enhanced by the copious options of its interpretation. Accordingly, it is up to the staging team to decide which of the mysterious themes and motifs to accentuate and which path to take. The new National Theatre production of Rusalka has been entrusted to SKUTR, a directing duo whose wildly popular adaptation of Erben’s The Bouquet has met with great critical kudos. The music has been undertaken by Tomáš Netopil, one of the internationally most sought-after Czech conductors. The production will be presented within the celebrations of the Year of Czech Music 2024.
National Theatre Chorus National Theatre Orchestra National Theatre soloists
Explore Prague with many sightseeing tours to choose from.
The Prague National Theatre was built from the desire of the Czech people for national independence. Its building was financed from the collections on which participated broad masses of people as well as important donators (including the nobility and the emperor himself). The theatre foundation ceremonial on 16th May 1868 became a national celebration.
The theatre was opened in 1881. In the same year the theatre burned down, and this tragic event caused a huge wave of new collections to support the restoration of the theatre. The Prague National Theatre was re-opened in 1883 by the opera Libuše by Bedřich Smetana and since then it has been serving as a place of Czech national identity and as a flagship of the Czech culture to these days.
Overall rating:
We very much enjoyed the opera – it was an effective staging and a delight to listen to the singing and music - and a bold move by Dvorak and his librettist to have the prima donna unable to sing for most of the second act. Seeing it in the place where it debuted was also a thrill.
Our seats and view of stage were OK. However, the actual opera was awful, with the exception of The Song to the Moon. After you had heard that, you could happily miss the rest. We left after the 2nd act which we have NEVER done before at any opera.
Beautiful voices, perfect musicians. The staging was low budget and poor for such a rich opera.
The performance, balllet, the stage and the orchestra were fantastic. This was the first time I visited the state theatre, but for sure not the last. I enjoyed a lot the event
June 20, 2025 | 19:00 (Fri)
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