by Michael Clive
The organ played by composer Antonin Dvorak during his stay in Spillville in 1893 is on display at the museum. (Adam Wesley/The Gazette)
The Czech & Slovak National Museum and Library has been even busier than usual lately. For Iowans in search of light beyond the fog of election year politics, it was a great place to look.
The Museum marks its 50th anniversary this year. It unveiled its authentically orloj-styled clock tower on Sept. 27 in a dedication ceremony attended by President Petr Pavel of the Czech Republic and President Peter Pellegrini of Slovakia — a historic day, but just the first in more than a month of noteworthy events under the direction of the Museum’s dynamic CEO and President, Dr. Cecilia Rokusek. More recently, the Museum hosted a week of musical events showcasing Czech and Slovak composers with top-level European and American artists.
It was one of these events — an unusual production of Antonin Dvořák’s opera “Rusalka” without props and sets — that drew me to Cedar Rapids, a 16-hour drive from my home office in Connecticut. I had convinced my editors at Opera Magazine that we should cover it, though after the first day of my long westward drive, I was starting to have doubts. Once I arrived, the newsworthiness of this “Rusalka” became clear.
As an acknowledged masterpiece, “Rusalka” has earned a secure place on American stages. But in many productions, something elusive has been lacking. In this case, the production was bare-bones; there were no sets, and the singers were accompanied by piano and harp accompaniment rather than full orchestra. But the musical and dramatic values were of a high order, making for a full, rich experience. It was an against-the-odds triumph that resulted from an unusual collaboration between the Museum, the Prague-based organization Sagittario representing young performers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and the Cedar Rapids Opera.
Two performances of “Rusalka” anchored a week of cultural events called “Czech and Slovak Echoes in the U.S.” — part of the NCSML’s 50 th-anniversary observances, which reached far beyond the Czech and Slovak immigrant communities. As Rokusek often notes, any institution that sheds light on the immigrant story is about all of us. Dvořák himself was fascinated by the musical traditions of Native and African Americans, and he encouraged our nation’s classical composers to look to their own roots rather than imitating European traditions. Though it took generations for the musical establishment to catch up with Dvořák’s ideas, his music has always been embraced by Americans of every ethnic heritage.
The opera community has its own reasons to be grateful to everyone who participated in this “Rusalka.” In an era when opera companies everywhere are struggling for greater inclusiveness, they have much to learn from this collaboration. We all stand to benefit from its success.
Michael Clive was in Cedar Rapids for Opera Magazine (London), the sole major English-language magazine covering opera internationally, on assignment to cover Dvorak’s opera “Rusalka” at the Czech and Slovak National Museum and Library.
To read the article in its original post, follow this link: https://www.thegazette.com/guest-columnists/rusalka-collaboration-is-a-triumph/
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