RUSALKA
- 25.00 EUR izven
- Processing costs fee per ticket is 1 EUR. Tax is included.
- Responsible organizer and seller
SNG Maribor- Slovenska ulica 27, 2000 Maribor
- 02 250 61 15
- [email protected]
- www.sng-mb.si
Antonín Dvořák (1841 – 1904) is the greatest composer of Czech romanticism along with Bedřich Smetana. Even though Dvořák had greater luck in composing so-called absolute music, especially symphony works, concertos and solo pieces for various chamber ensembles, which is evident in his early operas that suffer from several dramaturgical shortcomings. In the later works of musical theatre, Dvořák clearly leaned on Smetana "folk opera”, and achieved great success. Dvořák’s opera creativity reached its peak at the turn of the century, especially with Rusalka. Next to Smetana’s Bartered Bride, Rusalka is the most popular Czech opera since its first performances in March 1901 at the Czech National Theatre in Prague. The libretto by Yaroslav Kvapil is based upon Slavic fairy-tale motif of the water nymph (vila), and her desire for human love. Kvapil’s libretto significantly relies on a fantastic novel Undine by German poet Friedrich de la Motte-Fouqué, as well as the motive of the French tale of Melusine, Gerhart Hauptmann’s drama The Sunken Bell, and Andersen's fairy tale The Little Mermaid.
Dvořák’s musical ingenuity represents a rich array of sound colors, which anticipates a new music trend, i.e. impressionism, but also combines a thoroughly structured neoromantic style with the older principle of number opera. Some parts, such as Rusalka’s "Song to the Moon”, which is also the most representative of the opera aria, or aria of Vodník, the water goblin, and the scene of forest nymphs (vilas), are set to cyclic music forms, while the other vocal parts propose a rather freely and individual form (Rusalka’s arias in the second and third act, Prince’s love confession, the duet of Prince and Princess, and festive music from the second act). Complete unity of Dvořák’s opera is achieved through renewal and extension of the leitmotif technique; the most recognizable music subject is undoubtedly the motif of water, or water magic that indicates Rusalka’s bond to the aquatic world, while it is attracting the Prince, Rusalka’s unfulfilled love.