Dvorak: Rusalka Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Dvorak: Rusalka Blu-ray Movie Review

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water. . .

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 1, 2012

Years ago when my boys were toddlers I picked up a VHS (remember those?) of the old Disney film Darby O’Gill and the Little People, which I thought they would find moderately entertaining. Little did I foresee the shrieks of terror from my older boy (then probably four or so) when the film’s banshee came on screen. In fact I joked with my wife that night that the banshee’s wailing was nothing compared to our son’s, who may have made the neighbors wonder if some horrible parental abuse were occurring. Female ghosts of all sorts seem to somehow have more spookiness than male spirits, perhaps because women are often thought of as being (forgive me for any political incorrectness) the fairer sex, or at least the nicer one. Somehow the idea of a female spirit is instantly more disturbing than that of your everyday guy, and perhaps for that reason women spirits have often been used in folklore, myth and legend to fantastic effect by any number of cultures (witness the banshee for an excellent example). Rusalka is one of the most popular Czech operas ever written, composed by Czechoslovokia’s “national” composer, Antonin Dvorak, setting a libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil. This evocative piece may remind folktale lovers of another story where a water borne woman yearns for a human man, wishing with all her might to assume a human form in order to consummate their relationship. But Rusalka is like the flip side of The Little Mermaid. This is no candy colored fairy tale with a sugar coated happy ending, and instead is much more of a tragedy playing out in a world seemingly devoid of hope and focused squarely on mortality and decay.

What is it with productions of Czech operas and stages awash in water? Last year saw the Blu-ray release of a Madrid Teatro Real production of Leos Janacek’s Katia Kabanova, a production that brought that opera’s depiction of the Volga rather brilliantly to life. Now we have Janacek’s countryman Dvorak getting the wet and wild treatment with this similarly damp staging of Rusalka, except that in this case the water isn’t confined to merely slippery stage floors. In one scene that may provoke a few giggles from the less soberly inclined, Rusalka (Kristina Opolais) actually crawls into a small fish aquarium to supposedly reacquaint herself with the joys of home. A rusalka in the Slavic languages is a water nymph, often a spirit who lured men to their deaths, and here the character Rusalka is the daughter of the Water Goblin (Gunther Groissböck), a dark and brooding figure who keeps Rusalka and his other daughters imprisoned in a watery cellar in one of this opera’s must stunning pieces of stagecraft. The opera opens with the boorish Water Goblin, replete with yellow stained t-shirt, popping a can of beer and having a smoke while his hapless wife Jezibaba (Janina Baechel) looks on, terrified, obviously the victim of domestic abuse. Then the stage rises on what must be hydraulic lifts, revealing Rusalka and her siblings in their watery “grave” below.

Regular readers of my opera reviews here at Blu-ray.com know I do not suffer so-called Eurotrash gladly, and this production pushes the envelope fairly far in that regard, but—guess what? It actually works for this property, at least most of the time. Director Martin Kusej was evidently inspired (if that’s even the right word) by two notorious kidnapping case involving women locked away for years, sometimes decades, and he invests this production with a dark Freudian subtext that veers warily between signs of Stockholm Syndrome and outright incest. It’s a disturbing formulation, one only added to by Groissböck’s visceral portrayal of the Water Goblin. His groping caresses of Rusalka in several scenes are smarmy but immediately provide an indicator of this extreme “family” dysfunction, as well as a cogent motivator for Rusalka wanting to escape to the human world.

On the other hand, the fine line between decent if provocative interpretation and outright Eurotrash can be extremely fine, and a couple of the staging choices here leave a bit to be desired. Kusej evidently invited the ire of European animal rights activists when he announced plans to actually have the dead carcass of a deer on stage for the Gamekeeper to skin and gut. Wiser heads prevailed, but even with the fake deer there, Kusej invites several of the actors both in this scene and later to smear themselves with blood. It may be an effective metaphor but it’s kind of disgusting to see, especially within the context of the slain doe.

This is a dark and brooding interpretation of one of the unsung glories (no pun intended) of Czech opera, and it’s interesting to contrast Dvorak’s musical evocation of water spirits with Wagner’s Rhine Maidens. Dvorak’s score is perhaps surprisingly declamatory, less symmetrically balanced than one might expect from this composer, and one which is given to some extremely expressive vocal lines that easily unveil the inner worlds of these tormented characters. The singing and playing are both top notch, and while Opolais is remarkable in evincing a tormented, awkward spirit trying to make her way in the human world (pay attention to her fumbling inability to walk once she's in human apparel, including high heels), it's Groissböck’s performance that remains the most visceral in an overlal excellent ensemble. This isn’t a typical fairy tale by any stretch, and whle also not quite the stuff of legend, this is a remarkable production that manages to reinvent the original without slathering it unneeded “improvements”.

Dvorak: Rusalka Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Rusalka is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kultur and Unitel Classica with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. This is the first Unitel Classica release I've personally reviewed that has been released by Kultur; for years the label was distributed by Naxos, and indeed all of the other releases featured on the trailers on this Blu-ray are distributed by Naxos. (Evidently the first Kultur release of a Unitel Classica title was the recent Berg: Lulu, which will be reviewed here soon.) The good news is that Unitel Classica has once again provided a largely superior looking video presentation, something that should allay those who might have been put off by some recent Kultur that featured somewhat problematic video. The image here is quite sharp and well defined, especially in the copious close-ups, where fine detail pops quite admirably. Shadow detail is very good, though at times a bit inconsistent. Colors are nicely saturated and rather interestingly some of the textures of the piece—everything from the glistening smooth water that adorns the stage to the rough looking woven wicker some of the furniture is made out of—provide some very nice visual contrast throughout the opera.

Dvorak: Rusalka Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Rusalka features two lossless audio options in the original Czech, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.0 surround mix and an LPCM 2.0 stereo fold down. Both of these tracks offer sterling fidelity which really beautifully presents the typically burnished orchestration of Dvorak. The brass and winds are especially respendent in these renderings, and the 5.0 track also offers some nicely subtle hall ambience that graciously opens the music up, giving it just a tad more breathing room. Voices are superb throughout this performance, and they all are presented very well, including good balance levels which never bury them beneath the massed orchestra.

Dvorak: Rusalka Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of (1080i; 35:37) is a frequently quite interesting set of interviews with the cast and crew, as well as some footage showing the incredibly complex physical production this presentation features.


• Trailers for other Unitel Classica Releases

Dvorak: Rusalka Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Rusalka is a dark and desperate piece that is even more disturbing than usual in this arresting, but at times questionable, production in Munich. Most of this revisioning works amazingly well, with some smart updates that offer these larger than life characters is rather squalid settings that make them almost like something out of a 1950s "kitchen sink" drama (at least a sink would have water in it, so Rusalka would be right at home). But some of the other bits, like the repeated use of blood smeared over people's hands and faces, are a bit much to take, and the finale, placed in an insane asylum, might tip over into Grand Guignol a bit too much for the opera's own good. On the whole, though, the pluses far outweigh the negatives with this release. This new Blu-ray offers great looking video and really excellent audio, and the Making Of supplementary featurette is surprisingly interesting. Recommended.