Soňa Červená (above) sings the aria “Connais-tu le pays ?” from Ambrose Thomas’ MIGNON, recorded under the baton of Heinz Fricke. Listen here.
Ms. Červená, a Czech mezzo-soprano who recently passed away at the age of 97, was a mainstay at the Frankfurt Opera, and was on the roster of singers at the National Theatre in Prague. She also appeared with the San Francisco Opera.
After reading of her passing, I listened to more of her recordings and was quite taken with her rather unusual rendering of Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder. Listen here.
Following her retirement from singing, Ms. Cervena continued her stage career, appearing as Emilia Marty (above) in a Robert Wilson production of Karel Čapek’s drama The Makropulos Case at the National Theatre in Prague. She debuted in this staging in November 2010, and returned to the role many times, performing well into her 80s.
Oberon's Glade 