| Thursday 23 July 2026 | 19:00 |
| Saturday 25 July 2026 | 18:00 |
| Dvořák, Antonín (1841-1904) | Rusalka | Libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil |
| Bavarian State Opera | ||
| Petr Popelka | Conductor | |
| Martin Kušej | Director | |
| Martin Zehetgruber | Set Designer | |
| Heidi Hackl | Costume Designer | |
| Reinhard Traub | Lighting Designer | |
| Bayerisches Staatsorchester | ||
| Bayerischer Staatsopernchor | ||
| Olaf Schmitt | Dramaturgy | |
| Franz Obermair | Choirmaster / chorus director | |
| Malin Byström | Soprano | Rusalka |
| Pavel Černoch | Tenor | Prince |
| Christof Fischesser | Bass | Vodník, the water goblin |
| Jamie Barton | Mezzo-soprano | Ježibaba, the Witch |
| Elena Guseva | Soprano | Foreign Princess |
| Tansel Akzeybek | Tenor | Gamekeeper |
| Meg Brilleslyper | Mezzo-soprano | Kitchen Boy |
| Vitor Bispo | Bass | The Hunter |
| Elene Gvritishvili | Soprano | First Wood Sprite |
| Emily Sierra | Mezzo-soprano | Second Wood Sprite |
| Natalie Lewis | Mezzo-soprano | Third Wood Sprite |
Rusalka feels trapped in a world from which there is no escape. She is ready to put her immortality on the line in return for a human soul, so she can gain the love of a handsome prince. But she must pay for it with her voice. Muted and liberated from her dark world, she is forced to watch as the prince rejects her in favor of a foreign princess – dooming them both. She cannot live, she cannot die, yet nevertheless at the end, she helps the prince find his death with a “rescuing” kiss.
In their opera Rusalka, which premièred in 1901, Antonin Dvořák and his librettist Jaroslav Kvapil mixed the Slavic myth of the undead vengeful woman from the water with such storybook characters as Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué’s Undine and Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid. The fascinating musical worlds, the lyrical and highly dramatic moments came together to make Rusalka one of the most successful Czech operas ever written.
Tickets: € 163 / 142 / 117 / 91 / 64 / 39 / 15 / 11