The mermaid Rusalka loves the prince and wants to become a human being in order to be with him forever. With her voice, she pays the witch Ježibaba for the transformation and leaves home and family. Rusalka's appearance with the people initially depresses the prince, but the magical, voiceless being remains a foreign body in the human world and finally the lover turns away from her – which means death for him and banishment for her. In his fairytale opera, premiered in Prague in 1901, Dvořák set to music the contrasting worlds of the ghostly flowing underwater kingdom and the distanced stiff royal court with great music-dramatic verve. With the parable-like material about the value of one's own identity, the meaning of the human soul and the transformation of the main character Rusalka from a romantic mermaid to a loving person capable of suffering without a real home, the internationally working director Christoph Loy makes his debut in the Semperoper.

Rusalka

Semperoper Dresden

Turandot refuses to marry by setting an impossible condition: Whoever wants her for his wife must solve three riddles. Anyone who can’t, is publicly executed. Prince Calaf, a refugee stranded in Peking, falls hopelessly under Turandot’s spell. The Princess is shaken to the core when he manages to answer all three. Turandot unleashes a clear struggle for power, which ultimately claims innocent victims.

Ursula Renzenbrink

Events

Upcoming events

Apr 12 - Jun 4, 2026

Turandot · Oper Frankfurt

Past events

May 7 - Jun 11, 2022

Rusalka · Semperoper Dresden

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