Rusalka

On 5, 7 and 9 March, Ópera de Tenerife presents its own production of Rusalka, Antonín Dvořák’s most successful opera. Rusalka was premiered in 1901. The Czech libretto was written by the poet Jaroslav Kvapil, based on the fairy tales of Karel Jaromír Erben and Božena Němcová. The plot contains elements which also appear in The Little Mermaid (1837) by Hans Christian Andersen and in Undine (1811) by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué.

Under the baton of English orchestra conductor Paul Daniel, the music will be performed by the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, with soprano Ángeles Blancas Gulín as Rusalka, a water nymph who falls in love with a human prince and makes a deal with an evil witch in order to become part of his world, exchanging her beautiful voice for the gift of legs. Rusalka’s tragic ending sets Dvořák’s opera apart from the other versions of the fairy tale.