• Antonín Dvořák. Lyric fairy-tale in three acts. 1900.
• Libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil, after Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué.
• First performance at the National Theatre, Prague, on 31^st March 1901.

Rusalka, by the lake, seeks the advice of her father, Vodník, the spirit of the lake, since she has fallen in love with a mortal. He tells her to consult the witch Jezÿibaba, who allows Rusalka human identity, without speech, but warns her that infidelity from her lover will lead to damnation for them both. The Prince, out hunting, meets Rusalka and takes her with him to the palace. Wedding preparations are made, but the silence of Rusalka becomes wearing and the Prince turns his attention to a foreign princess. By the lake again, Rusalka wanders as a will-o'-the-wisp, told by the witch that release can only come by the death of a mortal. The Prince comes to the lake to find her again and in spite of her warnings embraces her and dies in her arms.

Dvořák's opera has debts to Hans Christian Andersen and Gerhardt Hauptmann, as well as to de la Motte Fouqué and to Czech traditional sources. The score includes an evocative overture that sets the mysterious opening scene by the lake and Rusalka's address to the moon Mešíčku na nebi hlubokém (O silver moon), with a polonaise in the second act, when a ball is held for the marriage of the Prince.