Oberon's Glade

Tag: National Theatre

  • Soňa Červená

    Cervena

    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.

    Sona cervena

    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.

  • Antonín Švorc

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    Above: Antonín Švorc as the Flying Dutchman; photo by Oldrich Pernica

    Antonín Švorc was a Czech operatic bass-baritone. He studied at the Prague Conservatory, making his professional opera debut in 1955, and joined the roster of principal artists at the National Theatre in Prague in 1956. In 1962, Švorc debuted with the Prague State Opera where he performed for the next several decades. In 1985 he was named a People’s Artist of Czechoslovakia. After retiring from the stage, he taught at the Prague Conservatory. He passed away in 2011.

    Antonín Švorc’s repertory was vast indeed. In addition to singing in many Czech operas (including those of Dvořák and Smetana), his oles in the standard repertory included Verdi’s Amonasro, Iago, Nabucco, and Simon Boccanegra, Wagner’s Dutchman, Hans Sachs, Wotan, Kurvenal, Telramund, and Donner; Strauss’s Jochanaan, Orest, and Barak, as well as Scarpia, Alfio, Don Pizarro, Prince Igor, and Boris Godunov.

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    Above: Antonín Švorc as Simon Boccanegra; photo by Jaromir Svoboda

    Czech soprano Ludmila Dvořáková joins her compatriot, Antonín Švorc, in a recording of the final scene of DIE WALKURE (sung in Czech) here.

    Švorc gives a dramatic reading of the opening portion of the Dutchman’s monolog….

    Antonín Švorc – Flying Dutchman ~ monolog

    …and in Berlin in 1967, he sang Orestes opposite Ingrid Steger’s Elektra, conducted by Otmar Suitner. Here is part I of the Recognition Scene from that performance:

    Ingrid Steger & Antonín Švorc – ELEKTRA – Recognition Scene ~ Part I – Berlin 1967

    ~ Oberon