San Francisco Opera - Rusalka

A mermaid's journey for human life

From the shallows, Rusalka the Water Nymph pines for the love of a human Prince in Dvorak's beguiling interpretation of the classic fairytale. Lyrical and achingly beautiful, this new to San Francisco production immerses you into a supernatural world beneath the depths where mermaids, immortals and nefarious Sea-Witches dwell.

A tale as old as time, each culture has its own version of the mermaid story, with a Rusalka being the name of a water sprite in Slavic mythology. Don't expect any Disney like happy endings here, as Dvorak leads us down a darker path as Rusalka finds her love rejected after sacrificing her voice. Distraught and sentenced to live as a demon of the deep, even revenge cannot fix the pain of a broken heart.