Rusalka (Opera North) – Lowry Theatre, Salford

Writer: Antonín Dvořák

Director: Olivia Fuchs

Conductor: Oliver Von Dohnanyi

Reviewer: John Roberts

The Public Reviews Rating:

Antonín Dvořák’s Opera Rusalka promises to be an opera that will enchant and whisk you off to a land of water sprites and wood nymphs. With very strong echo’s in the storyline of Han’s Christen Anderson’s the Little Mermaid one was hoping to be entranced from beginning to end…unfortunately this not the case with Opera North’s current revival of their 2003 production.

Rusalka yearns for a life with humans, to take on their form and feel what real love really is, she despite warnings from her family not to follow these desires goes to the forest witch Jezibaba who agrees to her request. Although things never are simple in fairytales or life, so in return for her becoming human Rusalka agrees to lose her voice, in addition she is warned that if the prince rejects her love then she will become an outcast trapped between the land and water.

Dvořák’s score is a real delight full of atmospheric melodies and haunting tremulous that help give the production it’s much needed sense of the other world. The music is expertly played in the biggest orchestra I have seen at The Lowry theatre under the expert eye of conductor Oliver Von Dohnanyi.

Where this production falls flat is the overall concept and execution of the opera, despite wonderful performances from Giselle Allen as the lead Rusalka and a strong performance by the powerful and charming baratone Richard Berkeley-Steele as The Prince, the production lacks any real warmth or heart and this is ultimately down to the design and direction.

Adorning the stage is a striking heavily raked stage, designed by Niki Turner to look like an Ice kingdom, with blocks of ice which at times are used to conceal various cast members, this in itself works fine and is one of the strongest stage designs I have seen, especially coming to life with striking splashes of colour and lighting in the second act, but if fails to fully take on board the needs of the opera to distinguish between the human world and the sprite world.

German director Olivia Fuchs has managed to drain all the warmth and emotion out of the production with her sterile and high art approach, leaving us as an audience alienated and at a distance from the characters on stage. I wonder what Fuchs’ original ideas were when crafting this piece together? There is a distinct lack of pace and energy and choreography that looks like it has been taken straight from an 80’s party dance song akin to Wigfield’s Saturday Night.

Overall Fuchs’ medical and sterilized production elements make this a tiresome and overly long evening at the Opera, which is a shame as in the right hands this could be the soaring gem and dark horse of the opera world.