"Lyrical Fairytale in Three Acts Libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil" "Conducted by James Conlon" "Directed by Robert Carsen" "Sets and costumes designed by Michael Levine" "Lighting by Robert Carsen  Peter van Praet" "Choreography by Philippe Giraudeau" "Rusalka Renée Fleming" "The Prince Sergei Larin" "Jezibaba the Witch Larissa Dadkova" "The Water Goblin Franz Hawlata" "The Foreign Princess Eva Urbanova" "The Gamekeeper Michel Sénéchal" "The Turnspit Karine Deshayes" "First Wood Nymph Michelle Canniccioni" "Second Wood Nymph Svetlana Lifar" "Third Wood Nymph Nona Javakhidze" "The Hunter's Voice Kevin Greenlaw" "Chorus and Orchestra of the Opéra National de Paris" "Production François Roussillon" "The moon hangs above the lake." "Curious, the moon gazes into the depths, sending her beams to the lake's bottom, where a water goblin shakes his head, his old green head." "Who goes there through this night?" "Water goblin, the moon is rising, she is peering through your window and in a moment will steal in," "into your silvery hall." "The moon is wandering over the lake." "A little breeze is dancing over the lake, the Water Goblin has awaken," "Water Goblin, Water Clown!" "Bubbles are rising from the depths," "the Water Goblin is ascending!" "Water Goblin wants to marry." "Which of us will make the water foam, comb the old man's tangled locks, take the place" "of Grandma Water Goblin?" "You are most welcome here in the lake, you denizens of sylvan glades!" "Why, have your high spirits been dampened by forest gloom?" "I have wonderful things to show you down at the bottom:" "goldfish by the sackful." "I'll flit through the reeds, and stretch out my hand to grab one of these young things, catch hold of her foot and drag her down to the depths!" "Water Goblin!" "Hey!" "Try and catch us if you can!" "Water Goblin!" "Hey!" "Try and catch us if you can!" "Whichever one you catch will give you a nice kiss!" "Whichever one you catch will give you a nice kiss!" "But your wife will pull your ears for you!" "She'll pull your ears for you!" "Try and catch us if you can!" "What a pack of ragamuffins!" "And they certainly can run!" "Uphill, down dale, over fields!" "Well, they're young, after all!" "Dear Father Water Goblin!" "How you startled me, my child!" "You're not using moonbeams to dry out my fishing nets?" "Dear Father Water Goblin, before the foaming waters reclaim me, stay with me a while, and chase my sorrow away." "What do you mean, "sorrow"?" " l'll tell you all about it." "Are you sad deep underwater?" "So sad I could die!" " Down below, where all the fun is?" "lmpossible!" "Explain yourself." " l wish to leave the watery depths, to become human and live in golden sunshine!" "I wish to leave here and escape from the watery depths." "Can I believe my ears?" "You want to become human?" "To become a mortal being?" "You yourself used to tell me strange tales of how they have souls," "unlike us, and how these souls ascend to heaven" "once the human dies, vanishing from the earth," "into nothingness." "As long as these waves cradle you, do not wish for a soul." "Never, because souls are full of sin." "And full of love!" "Ye ancient waters!" "My child, you're not in love with a human?" "He often comes here and submits to my embrace." "Leaving his clothes on the shore, he plunges into my arms." "But I'm only a wave and he doesn't even know I exist." "I know I must myself become human," "so that, just as I embrace him" "and hold him in my arms, he will also embrace me and kiss me passionately." "My child, night after night your sisters will cry for you." "There's no hope for you once you've been seduced by a human." "Dearest Water Goblin, he must be able to see me!" "Tell me, dear Father, what should I do?" "You're doomed, lost for eternity," "sold, if you give yourself to a man!" "It's pointless to ask you to join the fun down below." "You'd better summon the witch Jezibaba , my poor, wan Rusalka!" "Woe!" "O moon in the velvet heavens, your light shines far," "you roam throughout the whole world, gazing into human dwellings." "O moon, stay a while, tell me where my beloved is!" "O tell him, silver moon, that my arms cover him," "in the hope that for at least a moment, he will dream of me." "Shine on him, wherever he may be," "and tell him of the one who awaits him here." "If a human soul should dream of me, may he still remember me on waking." "O moon, don't fade away!" "The water feels ever colder." "Jezibaba !" "Jezibaba !" "My poor, wan Rusalka!" "Woe" "Jezibaba !" "Why so much weeping and wailing?" "Who dares to wake me before sunrise?" "Jezibaba ," "Give me a potion to release me from this watery realm!" "Fee, fie, fo, fum, what's this I hear?" "Speak up, and tell me who you are!" "I am Rusalka, a water nymph." "Please give me a potion, dear Auntie!" "Show yourself, if you are a nymph." "I must see you, you lovely child!" "I am held back by the waves and tethered by the water lilies." "Tear yourself away if you can, and hurry to my cottage." "Release her, waves, set her free, let her feet touch the ground!" "Little feet, carry her, little feet, support her!" "See!" "See, her feet are already learning to walk!" "Help me!" "Your ancient wisdom is infinite." "You know the secrets of nature." "In the depths of the night you dream of people, and you understand the eternal elements." "You know how to combine earthly poisons and moonbeams into thousands of remedies." "You know how to build up, how to break down, how to destroy, how to create." "You can turn a man into a monster, and back again, all with your eternal wisdom." "At night, the nymphs tremble at the thought of you." "You prepare wonderful remedies to cure people's ailments." "For us and for humans around the world, you are an element and a human." "Mortality and immortality are in your hands." "Help me!" "Help me, remarkable woman!" "Help me!" "Help me!" "I know, I know, people are always telling me that!" "Now listen, listen carefully, before you try this potion:" "you have pearls and beauty, but what will I get for aiding you?" "Take everything I have, but make me into a human!" "is that all?" "Nothing more?" "is that all you want?" "You came here in tears for that?" "You are tired of a life in water, and you long to have a human body, to love and be loved, exchange sweet kisses, cuddle and coo." "I know all about that, that's what everyone wants!" "In your wisdom, you know everything." "Give me a human body, a human soul!" "I'll give you one, the devil I will!" "But in exchange you must give me your clear water veil." "And if you find no love on earth, you will be condemned to a life of rejection in the depths!" "If you lose this love you're longing for, the curse of the watery powers will drag you down to the depths!" "Even before you find it, you will suffer: to all human beings you will remain mute." "is that what you want?" "To be mute for the one you love?" "If only I can know his love, believe me, I'll gladly remain mute for him!" "Watch over him well, and remember this:" "if you should return accursed to the Water Goblin's realm, your lover will also meet his end there!" "He will be forced to share your fate:" "eternal damnation!" "Armed with a pure human soul, a pure human soul," "my love will defeat all spells." "Hasten then to my cottage." "We'll brew some poisons on the hearth, give them to Rusalka to drink." "Then she won't make another sound." "Abracadabra!" "Abracadabra!" "Mist is rising above the meadows." "A drop of dragon's blood, ten drops of bile, the warm heart of a bird, still beating!" "Jump, tomcat, jump!" "Stir it up well!" "Abracadabra." "No torture is as bad as this!" "This is your fate as a human, and you must drink it." "Once you taste the brew, your tongue will turn to wood." "Jump, my tomcat, hola, hey!" "Pour the potion down her throat!" "Then she won't make another sound!" "My poor, wan Rusalka!" "Woe!" "A young hunter was out riding, when he saw a white doe in the forest, a white doe with soulful eyes." "Will my arrow strike her down?" "Oh, young huntsman, hurry on, do not take aim at that white doe." "Beware of that white apparition!" "Will my arrow strike her down?" "She came this way and then disappeared." "Uphill and down dale, through woods and fields, that incredible creature led me, but here the trail vanishes." "These ripples lure me on, enticing me into the lake, inviting me to quench my thirst for hunting in the cool water." "My steps waiver, I feel a strange longing," "my weapon falls from my tired hand." "The hunt has hardly begun, yet I tire already!" "Once more I am overcome by a strange enchantment." "That was no doe." "Stop, huntsman!" "God protect your immortal soul!" "Your heart is numbed by sorrow." "Whom did your arrow pierce?" "The hunt is over, it's time to return to the castle." "This forest is bewitched." "An even more mysterious magic has entered my soul." "Go back home, I want to be alone." "Divine vision, sweetest being, are you human or a fairytale creature?" "Have you come to protect that rare creature I just glimpsed in the forest gloom?" "Have you come to intercede on her behalf, sister of the white doe?" "Or, by coming to meet me, are you offering yourself as prey?" "What secret has sealed your lips?" "Or has your tongue always been silent?" "But even if you cannot speak, I swear to God, my kiss will wring an answer from them." "An answer to the mystery, which brought me here, lured me through thorns" "and over rocks, until finally, on this day of bliss, lovely child, I find myself enchanted by your gaze." "What is concealed in your heart?" "If you love me, give me some sign!" "Sisters!" "Sisters, one from our ranks is gone!" "Little sister!" "Dear sister, where have you gone?" "Up hill and down dale, through the woods!" "Little sister?" "Where are you?" "I know you're nothing but magic, and will fade away," "and be scattered in the rolling mists." "But while we still have time, please do not flee, my fairytale child." "I'm done with hunting." "What point is there in it now?" "You are the most precious doe for me." "You are a golden star shining in the night." "My fairytale child," "come with me!" "My fairytale child!" "ACT TWO" "Tell me, tell me all, dear boy, and don't hold back any details!" "In whose honour are these festivities in the palace today?" "The hall is filled with guests." "You are so busy in the kitchen." "All sorts of exotic utensils are set out on the tables and sideboards!" "We've been busy all day, Uncle Vanek, from dawn to dusk, without a moment to rest." "Just think, have you ever heard such a thing?" "The Prince found a mysterious being in the forest." "And now, would you believe, he might marry her!" "They say he found her in your forest." "Deep in the middle of the forest." "But, wherever she came from, I find her a bit creepy, Uncle." "She cannot speak, she has no human blood in her veins." "She runs around as if in a trance." "A fine wife she'd make!" "May the Lord preserve us!" "I'm an old huntsman, and I sense a magic spell behind this love-match!" "Our forest is haunted by some sinister power." "Strange creatures wander around the woods at night." "The weak in mind or body risk falling under Jezibaba 's spell, and the Water Goblin lies in wait at the dam, looking for a chance to drag you down." "Whoever sees the Wood Nymphs, nude from head to foot, is in danger of losing his head completely." "Lord save us and deliver us from evil." "Uncle, I'm scared!" "Well, it's no wonder!" "May the Lord have mercy on your sinful soul." "If I were the Prince, I'd chase that strange girl away, before she dragged me down into hell!" "Send that good-for-nothing away!" "Here come the Prince and the monster!" "I've no intention of waiting for them!" "You have spent a week with me, and you still seem like some fairytale creature." "In vain, I attempt to understand your secret by gazing deeply into your eyes." "When we are married, will I then experience what my love longs for?" "Will you be consumed with ardour, and will you be mine?" "Will you be mine?" "Why is your embrace so cold, why are you afraid to surrender to passion?" "Why am I overtaken by anguish when I hold you in my arms?" "I try in vain to ignore my melancholic mood." "I cannot free myself from your embrace, and no matter how cold and diffident you are, I must make you mine!" "No, it is not love I feel, but anger!" "That another takes what should be my place!" "However cold and diffident you are ..." " But if I can't have him myself, then I don't want them to be happy." " ..." "I must make you mine!" "It seems the joy of being in love has led you to neglect your duties as host." "Must a foreign guest observe in silence the happiness which has blessed you both?" "Ah, this reproach comes not before time, and I am happy to receive it from your lips." "Even a bridegroom, fair princess, is first and foremost your servant!" "And this beauty, the lady of your heart," "does she never utter a single word of reproach?" "Or is there so much tenderness in her gaze that her eyes tell more than words can say?" "Her eyes have forgotten to tell me that I've been a careless host." "Allow me to make amends without delay and carry out the duties I neglected." "What's the matter?" "Why are you trembling?" "Go to your room now and prepare for the ball." "Dress yourself in your finest clothes." "I enjoy his gallantry," "although you have his heart!" "Woe!" "Poor, wan Rusalka!" "Caught up in this dazzling world." "Woe!" "No one in the world can give you what the watery world abounds in." "For no matter how long you're human, you can't escape the bonds that tie you." "And no matter how much you are loved by a man, you can't bind him to you forever." "Poor, wan Rusalka, trapped in the magic of human bonds." "The underwater world longs for you, your sisters attempt in vain to embrace you." "But when you return to them, you will be a mere mortal." "You will return weary of life, with a curse hanging over your head." "Poor, wan Rusalka, caught up in this dazzling world!" "White blossoms along the road, everywhere in bloom." "A young lad rode to see his lass, and the day smiled so brightly." "Tarry not, lad, hurry to your beloved, for soon you will be a man." "When you pass this way again, red roses will be in bloom." "White blossoms were the first to be scorched by the sun, but these fiery red roses ornament the bridal bed." "Poor, wan Rusalka, confused by this dazzling world." "Woe!" "White water-lilies dreaming on the water will be your sad companions." "No red roses will ever decorate your bridal bed." "Rusalka, do you not know me?" "Water Goblin, dear Father!" "is that why I came to your palace?" "To find you weeping bitterly?" "Dear Father, Water Goblin, save me!" "Terrible anguish overcomes me." "Woe is me because I betrayed you, woe on all, who encounter a human being!" "Woe on all, who encounter a human being!" "Another has captivated him with her beauty." "With her wild human beauty." "he no longer cares to know me, his simple" "Rusalka." "So, he has rejected you already, he who loved you so?" "You must be strong and not give up." "All in vain!" "All is in vain, and emptiness fills my heart." "All my charms are useless, for l am but half a human being." "All is in vain, he no longer cares to know me," "his simple Rusalka." "All is in vain." "All my charms are useless." "Her eyes burn with passion, that accursed human passion." "I am a creature of the cool waters, and such passion is foreign to me." "All is in vain!" "You cursed me, lost to him," "Nothing more than a faint echo of the elemental world." "Neither a woman nor a nymph can I be." "I cannot live, nor can I die." "I can neither live nor die!" "See them?" "Here they are." "Dear Father, help me, save me!" "In your eyes a strange fire burns," "and your words enchant me." "You are becoming ever more tender and caring." "My Prince, what does this mean?" "Where is you your chosen one?" "The mute girl with no name?" "Where is she?" "She should be here to see how her Prince has changed!" "Where has she gone?" "God only knows!" "You alone have caused this change." "This summer night will never betray that I have been ensnared by the charms of another." "You may call it a whim, that once I loved another, but from now on a blazing fire will replace that moonlight in my heart." "But after my flames have burned you, and your passion has smouldered out, when I am far away, what will you do with the moonlight then?" "When you are embraced by those tender arms of your lovely, mute sleepwalker, who will ignite your passions then?" "Oh, how I pity you for your passions!" "Even if the whole world were to condemn my desire, you are my flaming flower, even if you bloom only for a moment!" "Now I see that it is me he woos ..." " Now I see what my body longs for ..." "The groom himself can't decide whom to court: me or the other." "Your embrace is cold as ice, you cold, white beauty!" "You may throw yourself into the arms of another, you will never escape Rusalka's embrace!" "Save me from the clasp of this mysterious power." "Save me!" "Rush after your chosen one into the nameless abyss of hell!" "ACT THREE" "Unfeeling watery power," "you have dragged me back down to the depths." "Why can't I, unlucky and helpless, simply die in your cold embrace?" "Why can't I simply die?" "Deprived of my youth and the joyful company of my sisters, I am condemned by my love to drift, yearning, in the cold currents." "I have lost all my charms, I am cursed by my beloved," "I long in vain, I seek to rejoin my sisters in vain." "In vain I long for the world of mortals." "What has become of the magic summer nights, when the water lilies bloomed?" "Why can't I, unlucky and helpless, simply die in your cold embrace?" "Why can't I simply die?" "Unfeeling watery powers, you have dragged me back down ..." "Aha!" "Back already, are you?" "Well, you didn't stay there too long!" "How pale your cheeks are and mournful your loneliness!" "Didn't the kisses please you?" "Didn't you feel any warmth in the bed of a human?" "Oh, woe is me, dear Auntie!" "I am betrayed and all is lost." "Your lover has rejected you and cares for you no more?" "And now you want Jezibaba to help you again?" "After all your worldly adventures, my dear girl, you wish to return to your sisters?" "Well, I can give you some good advice." "Will you take it or not?" "The devil only knows!" "The devil only knows!" "With human blood you must wash away the curse put upon you by nature," "purge yourself of the love you sought in a man's embrace." "Only then will you be again the one you once were, before the world deceived you." "Only the warm blood of a human can restore you." "You will be released from torment, your happiness will return at once, if your hand slays the man who betrayed you!" "If your hand slays the man who betrayed you!" " Jezibaba , woe!" "What are you asking of me?" " Take this knife and swear that you will do as I say!" "You horrify me!" "Let me be!" "Rather would I suffer untold agonies and yearning for all eternity." "Rather would I suffer untold agonies, suffer forever under the curse brought upon me by my unrequited love." "I would live a life of despair, if only he can live happily!" "And you wanted to be human?" "To intoxicate a man with passion?" "You are nothing but a drop of water!" "Pale as the moon and good for nothing!" "Go then, go and suffer for all eternity!" "Wilt away out of longing for that man!" "I am torn from life, plunged into loneliness," "deprived of friends, deprived of my sisters, to console me." "My darling, I know too well never will I see you again." "Oh, woe is me!" "Hundredfold woe!" "You ventured out into the world, and ran away from our games." "Little sister, accursed one, come no closer to us!" "Never again can she join in our dancing, she who has been embraced by a man." "We will flee, should you approach us!" "Your sorrow causes dread and disturbs our fun and games." "You can play with the will-o'-the-wisps who haunt the moors by night!" "Entice people with your light and lead them astray." "With your pale bluish glow, lure them into their graves!" "In graveyards and crossroads you will find your new sisters." "No more will you join the games of your sisters, the Water Nymphs!" "Are you afraid?" "control yourself, others have come here before us." "Just knock on the door and say what you were told to say." "That our Prince is sick at heart, that he has taken leave of his senses, that a creature from hell came to his palace, and that dear old Háta" "seeks advice from Jezibaba ." "My legs are giving out, my vision is growing foggy." "For heaven's sake, Uncle, go by yourself!" "I've been there many times, even in the dead of the night." "You must be a lily-livered coward to be so afraid of an old woman!" "But you were the one who scared the life out of me with your stories." "So don't be surprised, Uncle, that I'm shaking with fear out here in the forest." "It's no wonder!" "Jezibaba !" "What's all the noise?" "Who is shouting?" "Dear old Háta sent us to ask your advice, Jezibaba !" "And in return for my good advice she has sent me this scrawny thing for breakfast?" "He'll need some fattening up, if he's to make a decent roast." "Leave me alone!" "Let me go!" "Uncle, she wants to eat me!" "You pathetic worm!" "You simpleton!" "You'd never make a good roast!" "Your accursed race belongs in hell!" "And now out with it." "What did you come to tell me?" "Our Prince is ill, deathly ill." "A sorceress has cast a spell" "on his heart!" "As soon as she had ensnared him with her charms, the faithless enchantress simply vanished." "Since then the entire palace has been under her spell." "The devil himself must have carried her off to hell!" "Who carried her off?" "Whom has she betrayed?" "A curse on the one who sent you here, wretched creatures!" "He is the one who betrayed her and placed a curse on her!" "The Water Goblin!" "Uncle!" "For God's sake, Uncle!" "I swear vengeance!" "Vengeance," "wherever my power holds sway!" "I have tresses of gold." "I have a lovely white body." "I have feet of alabaster." "I skip barefoot over the meadow." "Fireflies are drawn to my tresses' golden glow." "Wherever I go, the moon clothes me in silver and gold ..." "Down below in the depths, lamenting, rejected by her sisters," "languishes poor, wan Rusalka." "Woe!" "Tears cloud my gaze, a sudden chill has seized me." "The moon is concealed behind ominous clouds." "The gloom oppresses me." "Sisters, let us flee!" "My white doe!" "My fairytale child!" "Mute apparition!" "Shall there be no end to my lamentations, to my fevered searching?" "Day after day, driven by yearning, I seek you in these woods." "As night falls I sense your presence, I seek you in the moonlit mist, I scour the entire world for you, my fairytale child!" "Come back to me!" "It was here." "Speak to me, silent woods!" "My sweet vision, my beloved," "where are you?" "My white doe," "where are you?" "By all that lives on in my dead heart, heaven and earth I entreat, on God and Satan I call, speak to me, tell me where you are!" "My beloved!" "My beloved, do you recognise me?" "My beloved, do you recall me?" "If you are dead, then kill me!" "If you are alive, then save me!" "Neither dead nor alive, neither woman nor nymph, as a phantom I roam." "In vain I dreamt for a moment in the embrace of my poor beloved." "I was once your love, but now I am your death!" "Without you I cannot live." "Can you ever forgive me?" "Why did you enfold me in your arms?" "Why did your lips lie to me?" "I am now no more than a moonlit spectre, destined to torment you forever." "In the dead of the night, I must now entice you." "My womanhood has been defiled." "Together with the will-o'-the-wisps, I am condemned to drag you down to the depths." "Why did you enfold me in your arms?" "Why did your lips lie to me?" "You sought passion." "I know, I know." "You sought passion, a passion that was foreign to me." "And if I were to kiss you now, you would be lost ..." "And if I were to kiss you now, you would be lost forever!" "Kiss me, then, kiss me, give me peace!" "Kiss me, then, kiss me, give me peace!" "The world is lost to me." "Gladly would I die of your kiss!" "And you, my love, who gave me so much, why did you betray me?" "Do you know, little one, that there is no return from my embrace?" "That you will pay ..." "That you will pay for your infidelity with your life?" "I will give you all you desire." "Only kiss me, kiss me a thousand times!" "I wish never to return, and in death I find joy." "Kiss me and give me peace!" "In death I find joy, I wish never to return!" "All feeling is frozen by my love, I must destroy you, I must clasp you in my icy embrace!" "Kiss me, then, kiss me, give me peace." "Your kisses will redeem me from my sins." "I die happy." "I die happily in your arms." "He dies in vain in your arms." "All your sacrifices are in vain." "Poor, wan Rusalka!" "Woe!" "For your love, for your beauty, for your fickle human passion, for all which condemned me to this fate, may God have mercy on your human soul!" "God have mercy upon you!"