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Antonín Dvořák’s ardent melodiousness, both tender and dramatically extreme, his masterly deployment of musical motifs and full-blooded orchestral instrumentation, together with Jaroslav Kvapil’s libretto, reminiscent of Erben’s simple and at the same time extremely cogent ballads, make Rusalka a work of sheer rapturous beauty, touching a chord with audiences irrespective of age. Rusalka is a lyrical fairy tale to a libretto by Jaroslav Kvapilm, a moving story which abounds in poetry and drama. The opera tells of the unhappy Rusalka (Water Nymph) falling in love with a prince. She longs to become human so that her love can be fulfilled. She subjects herself to the torture of becoming mute and the threat of a curse, and when her beloved abandons her she refuses to redeem her freedom through his death. Act I begins in a meadow beside a lake underneath the moon. The Water-Gnome, the ruler of the underwater realm, is being teased by three Wood-Sprites who are dancing and singing by the lake. His water-nymph daughter, Rusalka, confesses that she has fallen in love with a mortal prince who she has seen hunting and swimming at the lake. She tells her father how she longs to be a human so she can be with him. The Water-Gnome, anxious about the safety of his daughter and distrustful of the human world, warns her about making an impetuous wish as humans are sinful. However, he instructs her to seek out the sea-witch, Jezibaba, who lives on the very edges of the lake.
Rusalka finds Jezibaba and asks her to turn her into a human so that she can be with her prince. Like the Water-Gnome, Jezibaba tells Rusalka to think about what she is asking for and warns her that if the Prince betrays her, both she and the Prince will be damned for eternity. Additionally, Rusalka will lose her ability to speak when she becomes human. Trusting that her prince will be true, Rusalka agrees to the terms and drinks the potion Jezibaba creates.
At dawn, the Prince and his friends are hunting in the meadow in pursuit of a white doe. The doe suddenly disappears and the prince dismisses his hunting friends so that he can be alone by the lake. He encounters the now-human Rusalka and immediately falls in love with her despite her not being able to talk. He takes her back to his castle while the Water-Gnome and her sisters cry.
Act II
By a pond in the Prince’s garden, a kitchen-boy and Gamekeeper discuss the Prince’s impending marriage to a mute girl. They are suspicious of her and the circumstances in which she met the Prince. They believe her to be a witch and joke that the Prince will soon bore of her and choose another girl due to his fickle nature. They mention that the Prince has begun to show interest in a beautiful wedding guest, a foreign princess.
The Prince is having trouble understanding why Rusalka seems cold and why he shivers when he touches her but Rusalka cannot answer him. The Foreign Princess appears and tells him not to ignore his guests. Knowing Rusalka can’t say anything; she begins to tease her for not being able to speak and curses the couple out of jealousy. Rusalka leaves to dress for the ball and the Prince turns his attentions on the Foreign Princess.
At the pond, the Water-Gnome appears and laments his daughter’s circumstances and how she has been betrayed by the Prince she sacrificed everything for. Suddenly, Rusalka flees from the castle in tears. She pleads with her father to let her return to the sea and forgive her as she has realised that humans are not faithful. The Prince and Foreign Princess appear in the garden and very much in love. Rusalka attempts to get the Prince to return to her but he refuses her embrace, stating that the very touch of her freezes him. The Water-Gnome takes a heartbroken Rusalka back into the water. Once Rusalka is back in the water, the Foreign Princess rebukes the Prince’s advances and curses him to hell.
Act III
Rusalka is at the lake when Jezibaba approaches to taunt her for the Prince’s faithlessness. Eventually Jezibaba begins to feel sorry for Rusalka and tells her that there is a way for her to redeem herself: if she kills the Prince who betrayed her. Rusalka refuses, insisting that she would rather see the Prince be happy. As she is cursed for eternity, Rusalka can no longer return to being a water nymph but must instead lure humans to their death at night. Her sisters reject her and Rusalka must live in the darkest depths of the lake during the day.
The Gamekeeper and the kitchen-boy summon Jezibaba to ask whether the Prince has been bewitched and betrayed by Rusalka. The Water-Gnome, furious at the accusation towards Rusalka, emerges from the water and tells them how the Prince betrayed Rusalka.
Late that night, the Prince arrives at the lake in pursuit of the white doe again. He feels Rusalka’s presence and calls for her. When she appears, she angrily asks him why he betrayed her. The Prince begs at her feet for forgiveness and asks for a kiss. As Rusalka is now a spirit of death, she warns him that he will die if she kisses him. The Prince understands and insists that he accepts the consequences. As Rusalka kisses the Prince for a final time, he dies in her arms and she quietly thanks him for allowing her to experience human love. She asks God to take care of his soul, while she returns to her eternal prison in the darkest depths of the lake. | 
