Zdeněk John and Michael Prostějovský
Zdeněk John and Michael Prostějovský
It all started with the Prague version of the rock opera „Jesus Christ Superstar“. This production first brought together some of the people who would later form the core of the creative team behind a new musical based on a famous opera by Dvořák.
Michael Prostějovský, author of the Czech libretto for „Jesus Christ Superstar“, recalls that „Everyone who participated in this production in any way fulfilled a great vision: to put on a world-class musical of the same quality as the world’s top shows right here at home.“ However, the exceptional success of this show set Prostějovský to thinking that, „It’s time for a Czech musical of world proportions, but where will we find a Czech Andrew Lloyd Webber?
This question plagued me for a long time. I thought about it night and day until a light finally went off in my head: why, we Czechs do have a world-class musical genius! Antonin Dvořák! It doesn’t matter that he lived a hundred years ago. The opera „Rusalka“, which Dvořák and Jaroslav Kvapil co-authored, features all the elements essential for a perfect musical: exceptionally melodic and inventive music, a tragic love story, and a world of fantasy in which nothing is ruled out and everything is possible. The only thing needed was to shift the aesthetics and form of „Rusalka“ a hundred years forward into the present. I shared my idea with the composer Zdeněk John, who has impressive experience, primarily in the field of film music.“
Zdeněk John recalls his first telephone conversation about „Rusalka“ the musical, „It was sometime before Christmas of 1995. When Michael explained what he was asking of me, I first responded by swallowing a few times. I recommended he call at another time and about another topic. But then I found myself reaching toward my record collection and before I knew it I was listening to „Rusalka“. Every time I listened to it I became more convinced that „Rusalka“ - no matter how well we all knew it - contains something which is rarely found among contemporary authors: the timeless genius of Antonin Dvořák.“
In the end Zdeněk John agreed, and work on the musical version of this popular opera could begin. First, of course, we had to obtain the permission of the heirs to the copyrights to Jaroslav Kvapil’s oeuvre, as the libretto is still protected under copyright. Only then could Michael Prostějovský and Zdeněk John get to work, „with deep respect for the great masters Dvořák and Kvapil, with the intention of shifting their work to modern-day perception rather than plundering or abusing it.“
It was clear that a studio recording would have to be made before the musical would appear on stage. Recording began in the studio in the fall of 1997. Prostějovský recalls that „in fact, it was only after the mixing had been finalized that all of the musicians first heard and understood what we had been describing to them in vain for a number of months. It was time to bring the musical „Rusalka“ to the stage.“ It was obvious that „Rusalka“ would have to be brought to the stage by none other than its creators.
The director Jozef Bednárik (who gave his „nod” a mere two hours after Michael Prostějovský gave him the lyrics and recording) and the costume designer Theodor Pištěk are two of the many well-known personalities who agreed to work on the project.