Rusalka (review)

Symphonic and chamber music were Dvorák's elements, but toward the end of his life he was principally interested in opera: "I consider opera to be the most suitable medium for the nation. This music is listened to by the widest audience, and often—whereas if I compose a symphony I might have to wait years before it is performed." He made this statement in an interview in March 1904, two months before his death. Rusalka (1901) was the most successful among his operas to capture an international audience, and this recording commemorates what is billed as its Vienna premiere on 10 April 1987. (To set the record straight, Mahler had planned a performance in Vienna's Hofoper for 1902, but it had to be canceled due to the illness of one of the principals. Vienna later saw a series of Rusalkas around 1970 in German at the Volksoper. I was fortunate to witness one of them, but there is no mention of that lovely production in the present set. In Vienna, obviously, only the Staatsoper can make a premiere "official.")

The year of 1987 was a fortunate one for Rusalka in any case. Gabriela Benacková returned to the title role she had already sung under Václav Neumann in an excellent recording in 1982 (Supraphon 10 3641-2), when she was already internationally considered its prime interpreter. In Vienna, five years later, she is still in radiant form and negotiates the role's considerable demands with triumphant ease. Equally excellent is Peter Dvorsky, whose attractive spinto tones gently enfold the Prince's tender moments. Later on he is convincingly confused in facing a choice between the otherworldly Rusalka and the down-to-earth Princess. In the end he calmly faces death in the watery grave that fate determines for a mortal who has fallen in love with a nymph. The Bolshoi's Evgeny Nesterenko cannot command the fabulous basso sound of his earlier years, but he is still a powerful father figure, the only being with whom Rusalka is allowed to communicate.

At this point we must face the set's fairly severe shortcomings. This is an abbreviated Rusalka. The semicomic roles of the gamekeeper and the turnspit are eliminated. To be absolutely frank, I don't miss them at all, but the festive music in act 2 has its place in the story, and it should not have been left out. I am also perplexed by having the roles of the earthy witch Ježibaba and the glamorous Foreign Princess assigned to the same mezzo. Eva Randová manages her task reasonably well, but Ježibaba's role is reduced in the process, and I fail to see the point of this particular alteration. The only advantage appears to be the condensation of the opera to two CDs instead of three, but those who love the work will not approve it in this form. Technically the recording is fine, and Neumann revels in Dvorák's splendid orchestral colors. There are good notes and a synopsis in four languages. The libretto, however, is absent, which is another serious minus. Orfeo has given us a laudable effort, but not a real rival to Decca's equally idiomatic and reassuringly complete Rusalka with Renée Fleming, Ben Heppner, and Charles Mackerras conducting.