in Czech language
Selected scenes from the original production in Prague.
The sequence of selected scenes is not chronological.
This is merely an informational recording, not a recording designed for broadcast.
Recorded at Milénium Theatre Prague on 22nd of January 2000.
| Rusalka | Šárka Tomanová |
| Prince | Pavel Polák |
| Foreign Princess | Yvetta Blanarovièová |
| Old Water Sprite | Jaromír Adamec |
| Witch | Pavla Kapitánová |
| Water | Natálie Kolvová |
The character of the omnipresent, symbolic water transforms this liquid into blood. Betrayed Rusalka, abandoned by the Prince, returns to the watery realm, sinking into despair. She is torn between the human world and the watery realm. She has been confronted with the flirtation between the Prince and the Foreign Princess.
Rusalka
/: Oh, in vain it is, in vain, in vain, when my heart is an empty waste.
In vain all my longing sighs when I am only half-human.
In vain all my longing sighs today when I am only half-human. :/
In vain the lies. Where are his promises when he now pretends
That he has never loved me, bareheaded Rusalka?
In her (Foreign Princess’s) eyes passion’s flame burns, that human passion, so accursed.
I was born from the cool waters and I do not have that passion in me!
I was born from the cool waters and I do not have that passion in me!
/: Oh, in vain it is, in vain, in vain, when my heart is an empty waste.
In vain all my longing sighs when I am only half-human.
In vain all my longing sighs today when I am only half-human. :/
Rusalka and choir
Outcast by you
Rusalka
Lost to him
Choir
Of the eternal elements
Rusalka
Deaf echo…
Neither human nor water nymph, I can neither die nor live! I cannot live!
I cannot die, I cannot live, I cannot die, I cannot live!!!
Do you see them? See, they are here again.
They are here again. Old Water Sprite, Father, please save me.
At the Witch’s hut. The Witch, assisted by the elements and various creatures, makes an elixir in the pot for Rusalka, which will gain her entry into the human world. In return, however, she will become eternally mute.
Witch
A drop of dragon’s blood, ten drops of gall,
A bird’s heart, still warm and beating.
Jump, my dear cat, jump and stir the brew in the pot,
Jump, my dear cat, jump and stir the brew in the pot,
Abracadabra, abracadabra,
Do not be afraid of more suffering!
At this very time, for a short while indeed,
You can still join the other water nymphs.
Jump, my dear cat, jump and duly fan the fire.
Jump, my dear cat, jump and duly fan the fire.
If you don’t listen to my advice, I won’t stop you.
Let your wish be fulfilled in the early dawn!
This is your human dower which you must take.
Drink this brew, and your tongue will be turned to wood.
Jump, my dear cat, hey-a-hey, pour the brew down her throat.
Jump, my dear cat, hey-a-hey, pour the brew down her throat.
Abracadabra, abracadabra,
Not another word more!
Witch and animal creatures
Abracadabra, abracadabra,
Abracadabra.
In the Prince’s bedroom at the castle. The Foreign Princess keeps trying to get the Prince’s attention. She uses not only her feminine charm, but also an opium pipe. Despite all this, in his mind the Prince still seeks his lost Rusalka, who will appear to him several times. Nevertheless, in the rhythm of the tango he eventually ends in the Foreign Princess’s arms. He claims to find real passion with her. What was the cold beauty of a water nymph compared to this!! However, the Old Water Sprite interrupts the idyll with a terrible prophecy. The Foreign Princess then leaves both the castle and the Prince.
Foreign Princess
Now your eyes glow with a strange flame,
I listen to you, bewitched.
You are more tender and sweeter as time goes on—
Oh Prince, what does it mean?
Prince, what does it mean?
Where has your chosen one fled,
The silent one, without a name?
Oh where is she, that she might see
That the Prince has completely changed?
Where is she? Where is she?
Prince
Where is she? Where is she?
The change was wrought by you alone.
The summer night will not tell,
I have been captured by another spell,
Or maybe it is a miracle. God knows.
I have been captured by another spell,
Or maybe it is a miracle. God knows.
So call it a caprice,
That I loved another for a while.
And be you burning passion’s flame
Where up to now only white moonlight has shone.
And be the burning fire
Where up to now
Only white moonlight has shone…
Foreign Princess
When once my fire has burned you,
Frightening all your emotions,
When once I leave you for the world,
What will you do with the moonlight?
When you are in the arms of that lovely, mute,
Sleepwalking beauty,
What will your passion feed on then?
Do not randomly waste your love.
Prince
Even if the whole wide world
Was against my ardent longing,
You are my flaming flower,
No matter how short its bloom.
You are the only true hot passion.
Radiant landscape, vision,
My volcano and my lava!
Foreign Princess
In the mirror of truth she sees that the Prince is thinking of Rusalka
Oh, not until now was I able to see
That I was being courted.
It seems the bridegroom does not know
Which one of us to make his bride.
The Foreign Princess manages to get the Prince’s attention again.
This is my moment, the time is right,
He does not know his right from his left.
His mind has not decided
Whether to get burned by fire or frost.
|
Prince Only now do I know |
Foreign Princess Not until now was I able to see |
Prince
What is left of the love
Which gave me nothing but coldness?
I will gladly break all ties.
Only you,
Only you
Do I want to love.
Cold are your arms, white beauty,
You chill my heart!
Old Water Sprite
Flee to another’s arms, flee,
You are going to die all the same.
Prince
From the dread power of mystery,
Save me now, save me now, oh save me!
Foreign Princess
Realizing she does not stand a chance with the Prince
Into the depths of a nameless hell
Hasten to join your chosen one!
In the watery realm and in the forest.
Old Water Sprite
Do not play merrily, golden-haired children.
Our home waters have been muddied by human malice.
Deep at the bottom, condemned by her sisters,
Poor pale Rusalka weeps, woe be to her!
Prince
Where are you, my white doe?
My fairy-tale, my silent phantom! Shall there be no end to my sorrow, my
restless quest?
Spurred by longing, I hasten on, I seek you in the woods, breathless, day and
night.
When the night falls, I feel you near in the light of the pale moon.
I have searched for you through the wide world in vain.
My fairy-tale, come back to me! Come back to me!
Come back, my white doe! Where are you, my white doe?
By all that lies in my dead heart, I beg the heavens, I swear by the earth,
I plead with God and with the devil. Tell me, where are you? Where are you, my
love?
The Prince finally finds Rusalka. She is frozen in a piece of ice at the bottom of the lake. Although she frees herself from its icy embrace, instead of a beautiful water nymph the Prince holds an ugly will-o’-the-wisp. The Prince, however, still sees she is his Rusalka, whom he had known and loved before.
Rusalka
Beloved, do you know me? Beloved, do you still remember me?
Prince
If you are dead, destroy me too. If you are living, save me, save me!
Rusalka
Neither dead nor alive, neither woman nor water nymph, damned I wander, a phantom wraith.
Vainly I dreamed about your hugs for a while, believed in a miracle, in your love.
Then I happily became your beloved, but today I am your doom.
I am neither woman nor water nymph, but a mere phantom above the water.
Prince
I do not want, and cannot, live without you. Can you pardon me, my love?
Rusalka
Why did you call me to your arms? Why did your lips lie to me?
Now I am a mere moonlit phantom for whom you will suffer infinitely,
You will suffer infinitely, you will suffer infinitely…
I lure you through the dark night, dishonored as I am,
A will-o’-the-wisp, I will draw you down to the deep water.
You sought a passion, oh I know. You did not find it in my cold caress.
I welcome you to my embrace. Only today, not tomorrow,
Since as soon as I kiss you, you are lost, lost forever.
Prince
Kiss me, oh kiss me, bring me peace. I am bound in your arms.
I do not want to return to the whirl of the world. You can kiss me to death, if you please!
Rusalka
Oh, my darling Prince, see my sorrow! Why did you deceive me, Rusalka?
Do you know, do you know that you shall never be free from my embrace,
That you shall pay for your betrayal with your life?
Prince
I want to give you everything, everything—kiss me, oh kiss me a thousand times!
I do not wish to go back, I will gladly die, kiss me, oh kiss me, bring me peace.
I do not wish to go back, I will gladly die, I do not think of going back.
Rusalka
My love will now freeze all feeling! I must kill you!
I must take you in my cold embrace!
Prince
Kiss me, oh kiss me, bring me peace! Your kisses will efface my sin.
Your kisses will efface my sin. I die now, happy, in your arms…
Old Water Sprite and water nymphs
In vain he died in your arms,
Every sacrifice is in vain,
Poor pale Rusalka,
Woe is you! Woe is you!
Rusalka
For your love, your beauty, your restless human passion,
For all that by which my fate has been accursed—human soul, may God have mercy on you,
May God have mercy on you…