RUSALKA Opera Australia, Sydney Opera House

Nicole Car as Rusalka in Opera Australia's production at the Sydney Opera House

Composed by Antonin Dvorak – Libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil

Conducted by Johannes Fritzsch – Directed by Sarah Giles

Set Design by Charles Davis – Costumes Design by Renee Mulder

Lighting Design by Paul Jackson – Projections Design by David Bergman

Presented by Opera Australia – Sydney Opera House until 11^th August 2025.

Opening night performance on 19th July reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.

Nicole Car and the Opera Australia chorus in the opening scene of  "Rusalka"

Rusalka is the ninth of ten operas written by Antonin Dvorak and regarded as his most popular.  Opera Australia staged it last in 2007 when it won a Helpmann Award for Best Opera with Cheryl Barker singing the titular role.

For this season, to showcase the artistry of Nicole Car who is making her role debut after a long absence from the stage of the Joan Sutherland Theatre, Opera Australia has chosen the production created for the Opera Conference directed by Sarah Giles and premiered a year ago by West Australian Opera in Perth.

 Rusalka tells a ‘careful what you wish for’ tale of a water sprite who falls in love with a human Prince. Against the advice of her father, The Water King, Rusalka persuades a witch, Jezibaba, to make her human so that she can marry the Prince.

Gerard Schneider (The Prince) - Nicole Car (Rusalka) in Opera Australia's production of "Rusalka" 

However, there is a price to pay, and to become human Jezibaba demands Rusalka give up her voice and immortality and become silent.

The Prince eventually tires of his mute partner and is unfaithful; unwittingly violating Jezibaba’s condition for Rusalka becoming human. Jezibaba offers to reverse the spell, but only on condition that Rusalka kill the Prince. Rusalka refuses, instead kisses the remorseful Prince, and they both die together.

Giles production is visually beautiful and aurally luscious with a rich score in which Dvorak has blended intricate harmonies with soaring romantic melodies and Czech folk music.

A favourite with Australian audiences, Conductor, Johannes Fritzsch, obviously revels in the opportunities offered by the Opera Australia Orchestra and Chorus to expose the full beauty of Dvorak’s gorgeous score with its shimmering harp cadenzas.

Collaborating with lighting and projection wizards, Paul Jackson and Daric Bergman, Charles Davis has designed mesmerising watery environments for the first and third acts, and a sparse towering courtyard for the second, with each act viewed from a different visual perspective.  

The first and third acts are very static, allowing Dvorak’s lush melodies to weave their magic without distraction. Both acts are devoted largely to conversations between Rusalka (Nicole Car), her father The Water King (Warwick Fyfe), the witch, Jezibaba (Ashlyn Tymms) and The Prince (Gerard Schneider).

Car’s crystalline soprano mesmerises in her extended arias, but particularly in the glorious first act, “Song to the Moon” in which Rusalka asks the moon to tell the prince of her love. The role of Rusalka provides a perfect showcase for Car’s lustrous voice.

Warwick Fyfe (The Water King) - Nicole Car (Rusalka)

Warwick Fyfe, unrecognisable under heavy makeup as Rusalka’s father, The Water King, uses his stentorian bass-baritone to excellent effect to express his concern for his daughter’s welfare. Ashlyn Tymms finds unexpected poignancy in her interpretation of Jezibaba, the witch who demands a high price to enable Rusalka’s efforts to find happiness.

 Although sometimes over-whelmed by the orchestra, Australian born tenor, Gerard Schneider makes an impressive opera house debut as The Prince, especially in the final soaring duet with Car.

Natalie Aroyan (The Duchess) - Nicole Car (Rusalka) - Gerard Schneider (The Prince) in "Rusalka"

The second act, in which Rusalka is literally out of her depth and struggling to cope with her unfamiliar environment, Giles takes opportunity to inject humour into the proceedings, inserting genuine laugh-out-loud moments, as Rusalka struggles to control her new legs, manage her new shoes, and deal with court etiquette. This act also provides Natalie Aroyan with opportunity to shine as the haughty Duchess, Rusalka’s rival for The Princes affections.

Costume designer, Renee Mulder has enhanced Giles concept with delightfully whimsical costumes and masks for her on-land guests in The Prince’s court, and flowing robes and skullcaps for her under-water sprites. The witch, Jezibaba, scores the most spectacular costumes, some of which she carries around in a shopping trolley.

Ashylyn Timms (Jezibaba) in Rusalka

While loathe to seek contemporary relevancies in operas written decades ago, it was hard to avoid the thought that despite the beauty of her production, Giles was also surreptitiously pricking consciouses with coded references to contemporary concerns – body dysmorphia (Rusalka’s plight) – homeless refugees ( Jezibaba’s shopping trolley) – society’s obsession with fashion (The Prince’s Ball).  

No matter which way it is interpreted, this production provides a memorable evening of exquisite opera.

Nicole Car (Rusalka) - Fiona Jopson - Helen Sherman - Jennifer Bonner (Wood Sprites)
in Opera Australia's production of "Rusalka".


Photos by Carlita Sari


This review also published in Australian Arts Review