US Edition A number of patrons walked out of Rusalka, the Dvorak opera based on the traditional fairytale, in protest at the “vulgar” staging.
The costumes, in the words of the Daily Telegraph’s critic, consisted of “girls running around in their scanties”.
Hans Christian Andersen’s 19th century fairytale tells the story of a mermaid who longs to leave her underwater kingdom. She falls in love with a handsome prince but must give up her voice to do so, and her foray into the human world ends in tragedy.
The contemporary adaptation at the Royal Opera House is set in a "seedy backstreet world", with a brothel madam in place of the wicked witch. The tragic heroine and her fellow water nymphs ply their trade as prostitutes.
Rusalka, starring Camilla Nyland, left, is set in a brothel with the water nymphs as prostitutes (ALASTAIR MUIR)
Kasper Holten, director of opera at Covent Garden, said: “Rusalka is a fairytale but, as we know, all good fairytales are also about not just the pretty pictures but about the demons, about the nightmares in life.
“As with all great operas, this is essentially a tragedy and I hope there will be good reason to share a tear or two towards the ending of Rusalka.”
Not every audience member lasted that long.
“I was so disappointed, I had to leave at the interval,” said Jane Tinkler, a researcher at the London School of Economics.
“As long as I kept my eyes shut, it was gorgeous. But the set and costume design owed too much of a debt to The Only Way Is Essex."
Other audience members remained until the end but registered their displeasure with a barrage of boos.
Christine Hodgson, another opera-goer, said: "It's not the first time I've seen a modern production, but this is the first time I have ever heard the designers being booed by the whole House.
"The prince took off his wedding outfit and changed into an unappealing T-shirt. It was almost as if they went to a charity shop and found whatever they could."
Rupert Christiansen, the Telegraph critic, said directors Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito “simply use the opera as a pretext to re-cast Rusalka as a pathetic small-town brothel whore who craves suburban respectability”.
He described the reworking as an act of “vandalism” and concluded: “I only hope that the furious booing with which it was greeted at the curtain call means that it will be returned to sender at the earliest opportunity.”
Critics did praise the performances and the conducting of Yannick Nézet-Seguin. Opera Britannia said: “Close your eyes and live the concert experience and you’ll enjoy a musically superb evening. Eyes wide open, it’s a shocker.”
The production was first seen at the Salzburg Festival in 2008 and this is the first time it has been staged at the Royal Opera. It runs until March 14.
A Royal Opera spokesman said that no patrons had asked for their money back but “it’s safe to say Rusalka is causing debate and a great deal of interest”.
Last year, the Royal Opera flirted with controversy by staging an opera based on the life and times of Anna Nicole Smith, the Playboy model who married an oil billionaire 63 years her senior and died of a drugs overdose.