Rusalka April 2026 program - Opéra Bastille

Description

Born from the cold waters of a lake, the water nymph Rusalka longs to become human out of love for a prince she has fallen for. The witch who agrees to help her warns her: her transformation will come at a heavy price, as she must give up her voice, and a failed love would lead to eternal damnation.
Partly inspired by Andersen's The Little Mermaid, Antonín Dvořák's penultimate opera, created in Prague in 1901, unfolds an enchanting score with a shimmering orchestration, as luminous as the silver moon reflecting on the water's surface.
Within this organic and poetic universe, Robert Carsen creates a visually inventive staging, playing with symmetries and doublings to evoke both water reflections and dreamlike mirages, revealing the tragic dead end of a transgressive, unnatural desire.
An exceptional operatic work where poetry, fate, and emotional intensity intertwine, offering a powerful immersion into a world where love collides with the laws of reality and myth.