Kaduce_Pomakov (2) © Yves Renaud.jpg
Saturday night I attended the premiere of Rusalka, a 3hour opera from Dvorak who was a nice journey. I am no specialist of opera, so I won’t go into a deep review claiming that the alto-soprano Mrs X was out of key at that moment and too low at tha moment, or that this version of Rusalka is not the best I’ve seen cause here is the thing: it’s the ONLY version I’ve seen. So it’s both the best and the worst version I’ve ever seen in a way, which doesn’t really help for my review.
But even though my knowledge of classical music is far from being huge, I enjoyed the long ride, and as would say a famous metal band, nothing else matters! I only knew Dvorak because of the french singer Serge Gainsbourg who borrowed from him a melody for his song “Initials BB”, he took it from the New World Symphony, which is great.
The setting of Rusalka was nicely thought and the use of giant HD screens was an incredible idea. It widely opened up the stage and the action: a beautiful setting of the ocean, then the characters are in a forrest. The quality of the screens made everything so real that I wish these kinds of device were used more often.
My friend Wikipedia told me that Rusalka is “based on the fairy tales of Karel Jaromír Erben and Božena Němcová (well I could have guessed that but… I didn’t) a Rusalka is a water sprite of Slavic mythology, usually inhabiting a lake or river. Rusalka is one of the most successful Czech operas, and represents a cornerstone of the repertoire of Czech opera houses”.
I highly recommend Rusalka, a fresh journey into Dvorak’s musical world. You have until Saturday 19th to enjoy the show.
Rusalka (Opéra de Montréal)
Kelly Kaduce (4) © Yves Renaud.jpg
