Goin' Home, the Return to Prague

The Dvořák family returned to Prague for good in April 1895. Despite heroic efforts, Mrs. Thurber was unable to lure Dvořák back. His final decade – he died May 1, 1904 – was devoted to composing tone poems and operas based on Czech folk legends, the crowning glory being his opera Rusalka. It was mounted for the first time at the Metropolitan Opera on November 11, 1993, as his music began enjoying a remarkable revival on the heels of the centennial anniversary of his American adventure. New York's leading classical music station placed ads in the New York Times: "Dvořák Is Dynamite." In 1992, East 17th Street along Stuyvesant Square Park was renamed Dvořák Place, and in 1997 the statue of Dvořák was erected in the park within sight of where the Dvořák House stood. The general public has become far more aware of Dvořák, his music, and his American story, a unique and beloved legacy that DAHA, the Dvořák American Heritage Association, is committed to perpetuate.

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