How well do you think Dvorak knew Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov? I remember hearing his opera Dmitrij from the Proms a few years back, which follows the adventures of the Pretender Dmitri. It made quite a strong impression, I recall.

Thanks for the Youtube links…that Prague production with Eva Jenisova and Vladimir Hrisko seems very fine.  Interesting to hear a bit from the Dargomyzhsky version too.    

I'm looking forward to the Rome production even more now!

I've no idea, I'm afraid - except that Czech musicians were quite influenced by Russians at the time, because of the ideas/ideals of a "pan-slavic alliance".  I'd assumed that DMITRIJ must have arisen as a result of hearing BORIS, but maybe it wasn't?  Opilec, are you lurking somewhere to tell us?

Just pop the details of the Bruneau Trust Fund in the mail, and this situation can be most pleasantly and effectively rectified

I'd be interested to know, too.  Though perhaps it says in the Prom programme?  I'll consult it when I get home, if nobody's posted the answer here first.  A terrific Prom it was, too, with the excellent Stuart Skelton - ENO's Peter Grimes next season, I hear - in the title role.

Thanks, Wex. These give the viewer a good idea of the production last summer.

I've just read that the Robert Carsen production in Paris with Renée Fleming is my latest DVD rental to be sent, so look forward to seeing that later in the week!

Entirely agreed!  As usual Pountney staged something that he wanted to say, rather than what the composer and librettist had said.  Elia Kazan famously said "your first duty is to find out what the script is saying - not what it reminds you of".  There was a validity to what Pountney said, but it wasn't the subject-material of the opera.  There is a head-on clash between the "pastoral" world that Rusalka inhabits,  and the effete & ephemeral court of the Prince, with its ambivalent moral values and obsession with material goods and wealth.  Although Rusalka does lose her virginity (and her tail),  she can at least take solace in her underwater world at the end, and she has a "victory" of her own in voluntarily renouncing all the glitter of the court for a simpler world.  This is completely missing in the ENO production, whose obsession with lost innocence creates a one-way street that isn't there in the opera libretto.

After a fabulous few days in Rome, it’s time to report back on Dvorak’s Rusalka which I saw on Friday evening at the Teatro dell’Opera, which is not much to look at from the outside, but has an attractive interior.





It was a First Night, and I was a bit surprised at the glitterati arriving onto the red carpet in their furs! There were many seats in the stalls unoccupied – I reckon the house was only 70% full, although I couldn’t see up into the ‘gods’ from where we were seated. We were in the balconata (4th tier up in the photo) which had very good views comparable to the ROH and in seats a good deal more comfortable.

The orchestra, conducted by Günter Neuhold, played enthusiastically, without quite the polish of London orchestras. The pit barely went beneath the stage, which may have contributed to a few moments where the orchestra overwhelmed the singers. The set was very simple, as can be seen from this design sketch:



There was a waterfall above the river through which Rusalka and the Water Goblin could enter and exit; Jezibaba appeared from above that. Lighting effects were good, giving a constant rippling effect to the river and waterfall. Costumes were fairly traditional, Rusalka in flowing robes, the Water Goblin bare-chested, cloaked in long, dark robes.

Rusalka was, predictably enough, the star of the evening. Anda-Louise Bogza, a Romanian soprano, sang the role very well; a strong dramatic voice, which she could scale down to a fine piano when needed. The Prince of Kostyantyn Andrejev was good, an attractive voice, but in desperate need of direction – his acting was minimal. The Water Goblin, sung by Andreas Macca, was a convincing actor, but struck me as very young for the water goblin, although it made the lines about ‘which one of us will you marry?’ from the nymphs at the beginning seem more believable. His voice isn’t especially big and rather more baritonal than Franz Hawlata in the Mackerras recording/ Paris DVD, but pleasant. He didn’t really make the most of his Act II ‘aria’, which has become a favourite part of the score for me. He was well-received by the audience. On a good evening for the female singers, Patrizia Orciani made a very strong impression as the Foreign Princess; Francesca Franci was a reliable Jezibaba, nothing more.

The director, Ludek Golat, added some dancers in the first and third acts, as extra nymphs, which created a strong opening. The only stage set change in the second act was the addition of a bridge over the river(!) and the guests at the ball were disappointingly few in number – only dancers too, the chorus being off-stage. I don’t know the score well enough, but I think there were a few cuts in Act II. The finale of Act III was well done. Two dancers with a long, silky blue sheet drew it around/ over the Prince after Rusalka kissed him and he died in her arms, bathed in a pool of moonlight.

I very much enjoyed the opera, such beautiful music, and I surprised myself with the amount of Italian surtitles I understood! I saw that they’re performing Tosca in April and am persuading my friends that they really should try and see it, set in the city as it is.