Season Star Evelin Novak Makes Her Debut as RusalkaOpera — 28. May 2026.
Soprano Evelin Novak, one of the stars of the 2025/2026 opera season at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, will make her debut on 11 June in the title role of Dvořák’s opera Rusalka, one of the most beautiful and frequently performed works in the Slavic operatic repertoire.
Premiered in Prague in 1901, Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka draws on Slavic myths and fairy-tale motifs. The opera received its first performance at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb on 9 May 2025.
Evelin Novak joins this production shortly after her appearance in Wagner’s Tannhäuser in May this year, where she won over audiences and critics alike with her musicality, precision, and powerful stage presence in the role of Elisabeth.
A principal artist of the Berlin State Opera, Evelin Novak has built a distinguished European career over recent years, performing on some of the continent’s leading opera stages. Her return to Zagreb is widely regarded as a testament to the renewed artistic momentum of the Zagreb Opera. In a recent interview, she particularly praised the ensemble’s energy and the quality of the orchestra, noting that she was deeply impressed by the company’s exceptionally high musical standards.
Evelin Novak belongs to a rare generation of sopranos capable of combining lyrical warmth with the discipline and precision associated with the great German operatic tradition. Her portrayal of Rusalka therefore carries an added significance: it offers a fresh interpretation of one of opera’s most celebrated heroines while also affirming the important place that Croatian artists with international careers continue to hold on the Zagreb stage.
You can see Rusalka on 11 June and 13 June at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb and purchase tickets via the links.
