Nature Lover

Although Antonín Dvořák was greatly inspired by America, he longed to return to his beloved homeland and so he did for the remainder of his life to continue composing poems and operas based on Czech folk legends, such as the most famous of his ten operas, the fairy tale Rusalka. Dvořák composed the opera by a small lake next to a forest meadow at his beloved Czech summer retreat at Vysoká near Příbram, an enchanting setting for a love story of the opera’s water nymph. Rusalka premiered at the Czech National Theater on March 31, 1901. With Antonín Dvořák’s magic inspiring the new world once again, Rusalka premiered at the Metropolitan Opera on November 11, 1993, and has become a signature role for renowned American soprano Renée Fleming.

Soak in the sounds of the Rusalka opera at a music garden party at the Czech Embassy in Washington, DC, on October 2, 2011, while viewing photographs of the cast of the original performance.