Rusalka and Some Vintage Water Nymphs

Dear Husbola and I saw the opera of a lifetime on Sunday.

The Lyric Opera of Chicago performed its premier of the Antonin Dvorak opera Rusalka--an opera written in 1901 and rarely performed until very recently outside of the the Czech lands.  It is performed in Czech and I have no clue how this has escaped western audiences for so long.  We had seen it years ago in the National Theatre in Prague, but never in the USA.

The Lyric's production starred Ana Marie Martinez and Brandon Jovanovich with sets by John Macfarlane.  It is the dark Czech fairy tale of a water nymph who longs to be a human and feel the love of a Prince and break away from her watery bonds.  No spoilers here--trust me to say--this does not end well.  No fooling--this production left us both breathless.

The artistic director of the Lyric is Renee Fleming, the bombshell diva who just so happened to recently be in New York with the Met in her final performance of her signature role of Rusalka.  According to critics, the Chicago performance "kicked butt" over the Met.  If you would like to hear Fleming sign the signature "Song to the Moon" in a concert performance in Prague, click here or cut and paste into your browser. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km1b1yZB5rY
It is about six minutes long and worth every second.

What has this to do with antiques??  I searched around our antique stash, and found a few Czech nymphs of our own.

This is a 1900 Czech Royal Dux bowl, complete with nymphs.

This is another Dux beauty emerging from a watery shell.

And this is a powder box or doza in Czech, complete with little nymphs frolicking and playing.

As the Brits say, the opera left us gobsmacked.  Not to be confused with Rusalka's water goblin pals.