Star soprano Malin Byström, whose strong title roles include Salome, Jenůfa and Tosca, debuts in the role as Rusalka, the water nymph who longs to be human. Her fatal love is sung by Brandon Jovanovich, who also has performed as the prince at The Metropolitan as well as at Wiener Staatsoper. Hege Høisæter arrives in her home town as the witch Ježibaba and Allison Cook is the foreign princess. Eivind Gullberg Jensen conducts the Bergen Philharmonic.

Dvořák’s Rusalka is regarded as a national treasure in the Czech Republic, however in Norway this romantic and melodic gem is rarely performed. Gullberg Jensen conducted Rusalka, for the first time in Norway, in Oslo in 2009 for the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet.

Whilst the music is classic, and the world it inhabits unique, director Àlex Ollé plans to go deeper than just conveying a fairy tale: for him, the fatal love story about the water nymph Rusalka and the prince is an allegory of alienation and being different in the world today.

The famous aria "Song to the Moon" is one of the highlights of the opera. Enjoy this recording from The Metropolitan Opera i New York, with soprano Renée Fleming as Rusalka:

RUSALKA
Opera in three acts

Antonín Dvorák / Music
Jaroslav Kvapil / Libretto  

Eivind Gullberg Jensen / Conductor
Àlex Ólle / Stage Director
Alfons Flores / Scenography
Lluc Castells / Costume design
Urs Schönebaum / Light design

Soloists /
see biographies and photos
at the bottom of this page

Teatertigrene / Extras

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Edvard Grieg Kor
Lady chorus from Bergen Philharmonic Chorus (offstage chorus)

18, 20, 22 and 24 March 2023
Grieghallen

Sung in Czech, surtitles in Norwegian  

Duration 3  hours, with 30 minutes intermission included   

A new production by Bergen National Opera
Presented by Bergen National Opera in collaboration
with Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Edvard Grieg Kor