“Every stage work takes on new meanings with each new interpretation.” So reads the opening line of the program notes by dramaturg Marta Ljubková, writing about Janáček Brno Festival’s production of “Jenůfa.” She was being somewhat disingenuous. What was presented was not a change in emphasis or an exploration of hidden themes; rather, it was a heavy-handed intervention that included a new ending, new text, and, unbelievably, new music, provided by the band VIAH, a pop duo on electric keyboards, who pumped out a sound that was totally at odds with Janáček’s music.

Loulova’s Provocative Direction

As the audience filed into the auditorium for the beginning of the performance, it was met with an image of artist Jamie McCartney’s “The Great Wall of Vulva,” consisting of 20 casts of female genitalia. The original work consists of 400 vulvas; its aim is to “shed light on variety, diversity and the absence of a norm” and to draw attention to the pressures women are put under to have aesthetic plastic surgery. It was the opening salvo of a production, directed by Veronika Kos Loulová, that reinterpreted “Jenůfa” from a woman’s perspective in the 21st century, focused on the psychological difficulties experienced by women during childbirth and the early stages of motherhood.

Without a doubt, it is an interpretation with potential. Jenůfa has been placed in a high-stress situation, the subject of male violence and irresponsibility at the hands of Laca and Števa. She is pregnant, and the father, Števa, has abandoned her, and she is now fearful of the judgement that will be passed by the village community for having an illegitimate baby. She lives alone with Kostelnička, her stepmother, and the two try desperately to cope, not just with caring for the newborn baby but also having to keep it secret from a close-knit community. Little surprise, therefore, that Jenůfa falls into a pit of despair, aggravating any predisposition for postpartum depression, a condition that can also affect surrogates, such as the Kostelnička, who finds herself looking after both Jenůfa and the baby.

It started well. Loulová moved the drama to a contemporary setting, for which the scenographer and costume designer, Irina Moscu, created a cluttered modern-day apartment, where Jenůfa and the Kostelnička lived. The grandmother busied herself with household chores, while Stárek, the mill foreman, and obviously a regular visitor, sat comfortably reading a newspaper at the table and seemed very much at home. Laca had free rein of the house and moved around as if he lived there and did what he liked, as did Števa. The relationships were thus clearly established as close-knit, suffocating and overbearing, which Loulová amplified by accentuating the negative characteristics of the male figures, especially those of Laca and Števa. Laca, in particular, expressed no sign of love towards Jenůfa; rather, he was boorish, crude and cruel, always flashing his knife in front of her, sometimes with her panties twirling on its blade.

By the end of the first act, Loulová had successfully created an oppressive, threatening atmosphere based on intolerance and violence and clearly established Jenůfa’s vulnerability. There were, however, numerous irritations in her presentation, not least the interpolation of amplified texts of reviews from Preissova’s original stage play on which “Jenůfa” was based and quotations from members of ‘A Mother’s Smile,’ a group set up to care for women who have experienced psychological difficulties during pregnancy. They added nothing at all to the drama and brought the momentum to a complete stop. Also, the removal of all folk elements, while understandable given its contemporary setting, undermined the sense of community and therefore the outside pressures exerted on Jenůfa and the Kostelnička. The folk dances, therefore, also had to be jettisoned, which were replaced by an uncoordinated free-for-all that looked ugly and minimized the impact of the musical contrasts. There were other minor annoyances, but dramatically it worked fairly well.

Act two progressed in a similar vein. The characters were sensitively handled and successfully presented, capturing both Jenůfa’s and the Kostelnička’s emotional and psychological deterioration under the stresses of the situation. While the Kostelnička’s anxieties and emotions became more haphazard, Jenůfa looked oblivious to what was happening around her; she looked hollow and exhausted, clearly overwhelmed and unable to cope. Although it was a well-presented act, it was again subject to distracting interventions, this time with an amplified voice listing issues and products relating to new mothers, such as nipple cream.

Act three took the staging in a different direction. The apartment was melded with a wooded glade, into what appeared to be a dreamscape, with its meaning open to interpretation. Was it a projection of Jenůfa’s or the Kostelnička’s mind? Maybe it was a desire for a better world? Could it have been a representation of the heaven in which her murdered child now resides? Was it a contrast to the hell of a life lived in the apartment? Or was it something completely different? It did not really matter; it proved to be a successful device for encouraging the audience to think about the implications of such possibilities, and as such it was successful.

Unwelcome Alterations to the Opera

Unfortunately, the final duet between Laca and Jenůfa was cut, so that the opera ended with Jenůfa forgiving the Kostelnička, who was surrounded by other women in a show of solidarity. This went beyond Janáček’s intentions and felt wholly contrived. It also drew attention away from the legitimate portrayal of Jenůfa, the Kostelnička and women in general who suffer from male abuse, neglect or lack of understanding, as well as the problem of postpartum depression, which was supposed to be the main focus of Loulová’s interpretation and instead highlighted the fact that there was not a single male character with even a modicum of decency or empathy for Jenůfa’s or the Kostelnička’s conditions. For all his faults, Laca in the end accepts his responsibilities; this excised from the text as it went against the message. Even Stárek was allowed to sit through Jenůfa’s suffering while being tormented by Laca, just so that he could be shown to be a passive, disinterested male. It verged on propaganda, rather than a nuanced consideration of the problem.

Yet although Loulová’s staging was provocative, at times heavy-handed and occasionally irritating, her sure directorial grasp enabled her to fashion a reasonably successful interpretation in which her determination to insert her concerns about postpartum depression was made alongside, although not always within, what was a well-crafted drama. It was, therefore, a pity that she threw it all away by replacing the final duet with a nondescript piece of music by VIAH. It destroyed the effect that she had struggled to create, so that one left the theatre with a wholly negative impression.

A Raw, Exciting Orchestral Reading

The relatively small orchestral force of the Moravian Theatre under the baton of Anna Novotná Pešková created a dramatically stark and compelling reading. Its lean, transparent textures, in which the percussion often thrust itself into the foreground, gave the sound a rawness that sat well with Loulová’s staging, which was accentuated by the lack of warmth from the relatively small string section. Pešková was always sensitive to the drama’s twists and turns, complementing them with pleasing dynamic contrasts and changes in pace, and the melodies were crisply and deftly executed.

The star of the show was undoubtedly soprano Eliška Gattringerová, who essayed the role of the Kostelnička, although it was not the usual portrayal one might have expected. In line with Loulová’s interpretation, she became a sympathetic character, rather than a hard-headed matriarch, equally concerned about her own reputation as that of Jenůfa’s. Such was her success in presenting the Kostelnička as a well-intentioned, fundamentally decent woman who was unable to deal with the situation that it appeared completely natural that she should be forgiven by Jenůfa for the murder of her baby. Her singing performance was also wonderfully expressive, in which she captured the anxieties, stresses and fears that led the Kostelnička into committing such a horrendous crime.

Jenůfa was played by mezzo-soprano Barbora Perná, who produced an excellent acting performance that captured her mental state perfectly along with all its emotional contradictions. In Act one, she accepted and rebelled against Laca’s aggression, displayed her love for the unworthy Števa, and her contempt for Laca. In Act two, she had collapsed into an exhausted shell of herself. Yet underlying it all, she exuded a sense of decency and love. Her vocal performance was solid rather than exciting or revealing. Her singing was clear and articulate, and she expressed herself forcefully and passionately, but she lacked the frisson, the ability to add nuance and push the voice to the extremes that is necessary to dominate the role.

Tenor Josef Moravec was essentially only required to portray Laca’s negative characteristics and to steer clear of anything that might put him in a positive light, and he did it very well; he was frustrated, angry and resentful and simmered with a violence that was ready to explode. Possessing a resonant voice, which at times he could have used with more dynamic subtlety, he was able to intimidate Jenůfa and dominate a scene, as he forcefully pushed his voice into a confrontation.

Tenor Raman Hasymau has an agile voice with a pleasing timbre, although it can sound a little thin in the upper register, which he used impressively to capture Števa’s superficial character. Yes, he was pushed into emotionally uncomfortable situations, but he always managed to coat his voice with a veneer of insincerity or immaturity, which fitted perfectly with the tenor of the production.

Mezzo-soprano Sylva Čmugrová gave a clearly defined portrait of Grandmother Buryjovka, making it quite clear that she had no interest in Laca whatsoever.

Bass Jiri Pribyl had only the occasional line to sing as Stárek but was present for a large part of the first act, in which he successfully ignored Laca’s brutish behavior as if it were completely normal.

Sopranos Katerina Popová and Anna Moriová were parted as Karolka and Barena, respectively. Both delivered well-sung performances in what were small roles.

Final Thoughts

Personally, I found Loulová’s interpretation to be far too heavy-handed to consider it a success. Lecturing or berating audiences is never a good thing; they are quite capable of understanding a well-managed interpretation without having it spelt out in bold terms or using gimmicks, like having a pop duo bring the opera to a conclusion. It comes across as extremely patronising.

Actually, I had no problem with Loulová’s overall reading of the piece; in fact, I found it insightful. There is a very good “Jenůfa” contained within this production, but it is struggling to get out; a more nuanced approach is needed, one shorn of the extraneous additions that undermined all that is good about it.

It is co-produced with the Moravian Theatre Olomouc.

The post Janáček Brno Festival 2024 Review: Jenůfa appeared first on OperaWire.

In the open letter titled, “RESISTANCE NOW: FREE CULTURE,” concerns are expressed about the “attacks, bans, layoffs and cutbacks” to cultural institutions in Hungary and Slovakia, which are believed to be designed to undermine a “diverse European culture.” Signers also believe this “acute threat” is at risk of spreading into other European countries, such as The Netherlands, France, and Germany. They cited a recent act of violence at the National Theatre Ivan Vazov in Bulgaria by ultra-nationalist group during the premiere of Bernard Shaw’s “Arms and the Man.”

Alarmed by these threats posed by nationalist movements the Vienna Festival Directors Milo Rau and Artemis Vakianis, Vasil Vasilev, Director of the National Theatre in Bulgaria, and the Dismissed Director of Slovak National Theatre, Matej Drlička, along with several networks including Opera Europa, initiated the public call. Leaders from the Estonian National Opera, Opéra national de Lyon, Staatsoper Hamburg, and Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, to name a few, joined in signing the collective urge to the European Parliament to the implement a “Freedom of Culture Act” to protect artists through the Rule of Law.

The letter was launched with a discussion event on Nov. 30 at Maillon Theatre in Strasbourg. Attendees included the former MEP and former French Minister for Culture, Catherine Trautmann. An adjoining petition is now available for the general public to sign.

Karen Stone, Executive Director of Opera Europa said in a press release, “As cultural institutions, we are committed to amplifying dissenting voices, fostering new ideas, and engaging in meaningful discussions on social issues. Artistic freedom and diversity form the basis of a vibrant and creative culture and must be safeguarded at the highest level.”

The post Hundreds Of European Venues Rally Against ‘Acute Threat’ to Artistic Freedom appeared first on OperaWire.

Mezzo-soprano Bella Adamova is set to join IMG Artists for general management.

She will be represented by Senior Vice President Thomas Walton from the London office.

In a statement, Adamova said “I am thrilled to be working with Thomas Walton, who shares my vision and passion for storytelling through music! There is always so much repertoire to discover, and I am truly excited to share my art with audiences worldwide with the support of the entire IMGA family.”

Walton added, ” “I’m very happy to welcome Bella to the roster at IMG Artists. She possesses a beautiful voice, a distinctive and inquisitive artistic personality, and a natural communicativeness with audiences, and I look forward to helping bring those qualities to the international stage!”

Over the past years, Adamova has released critically acclaimed albums with pianist Michael Gees including “Blooming (2019)” and “There is Home (2023).” She has performed at the BBC Proms and Dvořákova Praha as well as at the Prague Spring Festival and with the Prague Symphony Orchestra.

Adamova is represented by the Czech Republic and Slovakia by Martina Výrková of Makropulos Classical Music Agency.

The post Bella Adamova Joins IMG Artists For General Management appeared first on OperaWire.

On August 6, the head of the Slovak National Theatre, Matej Drlička, was informed of his dismissal by an officer from the Ministry of Culture. He was one of the many directors who were dismissed by the new Minister alleging Drlička had criticized her ministry and had an alleged preference for foreign over Slovak opera singers, among other reasons.

The dismissal set off a wave of protests with thousands of people taking to the streets of the Slovakian capital to protest against the country’s culture ministry. The crowds claimed that the dismissals were a political purge by Robert Fico’s populist left-wing Smer-SSD party, which won parliamentary elections in Slovakia and formed a coalition government with the center-left Hlas and nationalist SNS parties. The dismissal also saw many musical figures resign from their posts in Slovakia including Robert Jindra and Martin Leginus. Opera Europa also condemned the move and Karolina Sofulak withdrew from her engagement with the National Theatre.

OperaWire recently spoke to Drlička about his dismissal and the rise of authoritarian governments in Europe and around the world.

OperaWire: When you were fired from the Slovak National Theatre, was this something you were expecting or did it come as a surprise?

Matej Drlička: This government was installed after the parliamentary election a year ago. So as soon as the culture segment learned that the Minister of Culture would be nominated by the Slovak Nationalist Party, we knew we would be in trouble. The Slovak Nationalist Party is well known, in a negative way throughout the years. This party always brings the worst politics into the lives of people. Usually, the leaders are basically ashamed of our country either because of their race or homophobic or anti-Hungarian or anti-Romani views. They’re always beyond the red line and very far right.

It is also the oldest Slovak political party which was founded at the end of the 19th century, so they should have learned, but they didn’t learn anything. Every new chief president of the party always brings a new level of atrocity. The Minister of Culture is a pretty well-known figure in Slovakia because she was a TV presenter. TV presenters are very popular in our country. So this lady was fired by her original employer, which is a private television station. She was fired because of her racist expressions on social networks and then she founded her own disinformation channel on the Internet, where she was spreading the news that Covid was made up and the craziest disinformation you can imagine. So when we learned that this lady would be the Minister of Culture, we all knew that we would be in trouble and that this was not good news.

Of course, she has no idea about arts whatsoever but she has some knowledge about media because she was a TV presenter.

The elections were democratic and we could be unhappy, but we couldn’t question the results of the elections. So we all said, let’s wait. The first thing that she did was she sent a letter to the Czech Minister of Culture, which, for some reason, she put it on Facebook. And the letter was just ridiculously stupid and everybody laughed because there were grammatical mistakes. She was speaking about some sort of new era of cooperation between Czech and it was just a ridiculous letter saying nothing to our neighbor, which is pretty much a well-developed country. So we said this lady is going to just be funny. But later we learned that she would be dangerous and very soon, she started to be very offensive towards the minorities, especially the LGBTIA+ minority. Then she started to speak about her vision of the future of arts and culture. Her vision was that “Slovak culture will be Slovak and no other.” So this quote became very famous.

And so there was a discussion of if we are in Slovakia, what other cultures should it be? Even if you do a Verdi opera, you speak about Slovak culture because it’s interpreted in Slovakia. Every country that performs international repertoire still makes it a national opera, it’s still a national theater, and you somehow appropriate it even though it is an international repertoire.

But we realized that she’s extremely uneducated, extremely incompetent and that she doesn’t care. And then she started to fire people. First, she fired the director of a gallery of arts for children, which is a fairly small but important museum, and replaced her with her neighbor who lives in Austria and is a yoga teacher. But you can imagine the surprise because the minister said that “the Slovak culture should be Slovak and no other” but hired someone who lives in Austria.

There were a lot of petitions against this decision and some protests in front of the gallery. There were some letters of support from abroad and asked her to reconsider the decision.

Then they started to attack the culture funds, which is one way of financing independent arts and they changed the law so they could gain political control over the funds, which for the last 15 years were put aside from the ministry so that there was no political influence possible. All the money was distributed through independent expert juries.

Now they want to put it back so that the minister can control it then. They also changed the law of the Slovak National Television, so that they get it under control, especially the news.  So there was a lot of destruction.

Because Slovakia is a very young country, the mechanisms in culture that were functioning, and were very fresh. The funds for art, the funds for audiovisual, and the way the directors of the national institutions were being chosen were working well. Results started to be seen. But she basically ruined everything that was installed by her predecessors.

OW: So did you start hearing that there was a possibility of losing your job?

MD: I was receiving messages concerning myself. So the Slovak National Theatre has drama, opera, and ballet. When I was leading the theater, the order of popularity in our theater was the drama and the sales of the tickets were hitting 95 percent of occupancy. And one of the reasons is that all the actors also act in Slovak either in TV, in series, or in movies.

Then there is ballet, which is also almost sold out and we get 96 percent but these numbers were achieved during my management. And opera when I arrived in 2021, the occupancy was around 54 percent and we grew to 86 percent. So we did a lot of reforms in terms of opera.

The Slovak National Theatre has played a very important historical role in Slovak history and has always seen the actors of the Slovak National Theatre speak out and it was always the wish of all ministers to control the Slovak National Theatre and to have a hand over it especially in the drama department. Politicians were always afraid of the Drama Department, especially those who were openly autocratic.

Under my management, I gave total freedom to the director of the Drama Department. So the repertoire we were doing was pretty much critical, not towards a specific politician, but it was very critical towards our own country, how we behave, and towards Russia, among other things. But of course, this is what theater should do. And of course, this made them very upset.

So first, I received messages from friends who told me I should probably go easy on the programming and should ask my actors to do more comedies and less critical works. So we were gently being warned that we were going the wrong way for the politicians, especially for the minister. And we said, “fuck off.”

So we continued with our brave programming and the reaction of the public was extremely positive. So all the premieres and the reprises were always packed.

In April-May, I started to feel the real resistance from the ministry. They started to cut the financing because the main control of the ministry over European institutions is the budget. We are like all the other national theaters or all the other big theaters in Europe, we are 80 percent financed by the state or by the region and 20 percent by the income from the tickets and sponsors. This is pretty much the standard in all European countries.

So they started to cut all the money for investments which meant we couldn’t buy a new technology for the theater and we couldn’t afford a new website, which was still quite okay. But we just felt that they were trying to make us upset.

But then they announced that there would be major cuts in the main budget, which is basically the salaries of the employees. So that was like the first wave and a clear signal that they were not happy. And since we didn’t really change our strategy of programming, I started to speak up openly in public on social networks or when I was a guest and criticized the fact that I felt that Slovakia was going to the far right, the same way as Hungary.

I also said that freedom of speech was being censored. Auto-censure was something that I started to notice in other theaters from my colleagues. To get the money and to live a quiet life, they started to auto-censure themselves.

So I took the risk and I spoke out quite openly. There was one moment during a TV Oscars-type gala that was streamed and I was giving a prize there. So I had a speech where I was very open about how I felt about the politics of the country. And basically, I got the message that I was dead after this and I had gone too far.

And then I was just basically waiting for my dismissal which came in the middle of summer on the sixth of August. I was on my sick leave that day. I was sick for two or three weeks and the last few days, I was still recovering. And during this sick leave, one morning, they came to my door and I was wearing a bathrobe. So I was dismissed in my bathrobe from the officers of the ministry. And it became a funny story in Slovakia and there were a lot of cartoons and memes about this.

So when there was the first protest with around 18,000, there were a few hundred that were wearing bathrobes in the protest as a symbol of how they dismiss General Directors in Slovakia.

OW: Many people stepped down from positions as soon as they heard you were dismissed from your position. Robert Jindra stepped down from his position at the Košice State Philharmonic and then the director of the “Un Ballo in Maschera” withdrew.  How do you feel about the support you have received?

MD: There are three areas that I have to talk about. As far as the management of the Slovak National Theatre goes, when I was dismissed, the Economic director stepped down and then the director of opera stepped down, among others. My management is no longer there.

There is a new interim general director. It’s also a blonde lady from the media. She was a TV presenter and there was major resistance inside of the theater, especially from the drama department. So she’s realizing that she’s driving a car that is trying to reject her. So she feels very lonely in the theater.

Then people like Robert Jindra stepped down from working as chief conductor in another orchestra, but he was very expressive about the minister. He’s a Czech conductor and he left Slovakia, saying that this country is going in the wrong direction. Then Karolina Sofulak, the stage director of “Ballo in Maschera,” said that she could not imagine working under these conditions for the theater. So it was an important gesture and was an extremely warm message that they sent to us. I received a lot of messages and support after I was dismissed from the opera in European communities and a lot of theaters.

The minister and prime minister were sent letters where they were asked to reconsider their decision. That was signed by the most important theaters in Europe. But of course, the prime minister doesn’t read these kinds of letters and the minister has no idea what the Vienna State Opera is. So they don’t care and we didn’t change their mind.

The Slovak National Theater will continue somehow. But the biggest problem of the Slovak National Theatre is that the new interim director has no clue how to run a theater and things are falling apart. The second problem is that ticket sales stopped and they have a major problem. When we did this “The Cunning Little Vixen” it was sold out like 100 because the community knew that it was our production. It was a successful production and that’s the end of an era.

Everybody knows that something ended with this production and now, when I look at the sales of “Butterfly” or whatever, it’s 30-40 percent of sales, which is terrible. So, I think they’re going to have big, big problems.

OW: So the community is also supporting you in a way?

MD: We proved over those three and a half years to the operagoers that the reforms we did were correct. The quality of the orchestra, of the choir, of the guests, of the productions all went up. I started to change the theater from a repertoire to a production house because of the quality. We started to work with International stage directors as well as Slovak stage directors. We wanted to try to open up to the world. The opera community is not as immense as you can imagine in a small country. It’s a very small group of people and they see the difference and they know when the difference is happening. And now they’re expressing their opinion by not attending anymore.

So that’s the Slovak Theatre.

OW: What actions are you taking to continue spreading the word about this new minister?

MD: There is a strike action which is going on and I joined this platform which is of people working all around the country from all different fields of arts and culture and the creative industry. So we called this cultural strike. It’s strike awareness, telling you that we are ready to go into a hard strike if you don’t recall the Minister of Culture. So it’s thousands of people, hundreds of institutions, and we do press conferences where we try to show the general public what the minister is doing.

Of course, the Prime Minister and the Minister are pretending not to listen. I do know that the coalition is starting to crack and I know we will achieve some kind of results. I don’t know if it will lead to the dismissal of the minister, but we are definitely gaining the attention of the general public and media. So these activities are going quite well.

OW: How have other institutions been affected?

MD: There is the reality of the other state institutions, which is the biggest danger of what’s happening in the fields of culture. My colleagues, who are general directors of the 30 state institutions, most of them just look down and they want to survive and they comply with the Minister’s ideas. And this, for me, is the saddest story.

Inside their institutions, there are people who are on strike awareness but the representatives of the institutions, the CEOs shut up and they get in line and follow what the minister says. They think it’s a good strategy.

I spoke to many of them and they said, “Matej, for you, it’s over. But we want to survive. We have to protect the institutions from inside and we have to protect our employees.”

I told them they were wrong. If they think that by doing this, they will protect their employees, they are wrong. The Minister will end up cutting all of their budgets and in the end, they will fire them. And at the end, they will destroy many of these institutions.

Funnily, one of the guys that I was trying to convince the most was the general director of the Slovak National Museum, which is a fairly large institution that has 14 castles all over the country.

And I told him, “your institution is so big that if you speak up and if the others would speak up they can’t fire all of you at the same time. I told them to join the fight.”

I initiated this conference call where I was trying to give them some warrior spirit. And I said they fired me because I was the only one who was speaking up. And I told them if they entered the arena, we could reach results.

So this friend of mine from the Slovak National Museum, said, “Matej, maybe you’re right, but I want to stay.” But in the end, he was fired.

OW: After your dismissal was there a plan for the National Theatre?

MD: When they dismissed me, for four weeks, they didn’t find anybody to replace me. That’s one of the absurdities of the whole thing. They fired the director of the National Theatre and they have no backup, and for four weeks, there is no backup. And then they come up with this blonde lady who is crying every time she goes to work.

Because the replacement, it’s not an authority from the Theater World. It’s a nobody.

OW: The Minister of Culture said that one of the reasons for dismissing you was that they wanted to have more Slovak artists and fewer International Artists which they claim you put first. I know that there are not many international soloists at the company. Can you explain what the Minister of Culture meant and what was the disconnect?

MD: Disconnection is a nice way to put it. But they lied and one of the reasons why they dismissed me was according to them I was bringing political activism to the theatre, which is not true. Being critical of society is not political activism.

And one of the reasons was also that I was giving too much space for international soloists. I wish we had money for that, but luckily several Slovakian singers have made international careers like Pavol Breslik, and Štefan Kocán, among others. So bringing those singers back home brought the public. But they are still Slovak singers.

So politicians openly lied when they said that I turned the opera away from Slovak Soloist and gave it to international singers.

OW: Right now the world is going through a transition period and we’re seeing a lot of autocratic governments come to power. Do you think these protests will help bring back some clear stability?

MD: I don’t think that the protests from the cultural communities will be enough. What we are trying to do is to be the first wave and trigger bigger protests. This is what has always happened in the history of Slovakia. The artists were the first ones who stepped up and who started. But of course, it’s a small community and with every protest, we see that the politicians get more and more resistant. You need hundreds of thousands of people on the street to make them fear. So 20,000 people protesting is nothing to our politicians.

I’m positive about the fact that we all see it and people are not completely blind. I think we will achieve something but the negative part is that what is happening in Slovakia is now starting to happen in smaller sizes in Austria, Holland, Germany, and France.

I’m not a political historian or a political strategist but I’m a positive person and I think that by continuing and not shutting up, we will achieve something. But I’m afraid that the results are uncertain.

OW: What do you attribute to the rise in these extremist politics especially in Slovakia?

MD: The rise of Autocratic politicians and populism is something important to analyze. There are a lot of similarities between the way that Donald Trump speaks to his voters and the way that Orbán is speaking. So it’s not only strictly related to Slovakia. We see it all over the place, especially Europe, and North America.

Now, populism is the topic, and it’s different in every country. In Western Europe, it’s about the immigrants as it is in the United States.

In Slovakia, we don’t have any immigrants. So Slovakia, definitely cannot say that we have this kind of challenge. But what we have is the Russians and they are creating a Crypto War.

The cyber war with Russia is a reality and I think their main effort is now Slovakia, and people get fooled by this. So our current government is presenting Russia as the country that wants peace. And that’s it.

OW: So the spread of disinformation is not helping the cause. How do you think the arts world in general can help combat the misinformation and autocratic rise?

MD:  This is a question that I don’t know how to answer and it’s too difficult to answer. I think it’s very different from country to country.

I definitely have no idea about the measures and the size of the problem in the United States because I only have information from the media. So I think that the role of arts and culture is to continue and I think very soon in our country, we will have problems for culture. I think most of the people around me understand that we have to get ready for very tricky times, not only in independent culture, but also in the state culture.

Next year, there are plans to cut the budgets from 20 to 25 percent for state institutions, which will be for many of them the end, because they will not be able to survive. I think we are entering hard times, and I think there will be one moment when these people will realize it’s going to suck and they will have to fight.

Right now the problem is that people are afraid and think that they will somehow survive and that they will manage. But they will eventually understand that they will not manage. That might get us to the bigger wave of resistance and where I am confident that even though there is little optimism, we are democratic countries, and we are still united in our countries.

I think that if we have to stick to the idea of the European Union and we trust each other, we can survive. But we should only be the first wave. There need to be louder voices.

OW: What is next for you?

MD: Before taking the position at the National Theatre, I had several projects. I’m running a classical music festival in the capital city of Slovakia, “Viva Musica,” which was celebrating 20 years. I also run an artistic agency.

So, I come from business. I was an entrepreneur, so when I was dismissed, I just went back to my agency, which was functioning, well. So I just came back.

That’s the difference between me and most of my colleagues who spent their entire life in those institutions and they have no parallel life or parallel way to escape. So, I’m continuing with the festival and with the business.

I also became an activist and I’m going to organize a tour of discussions all over the country. I’m just building up a panel of interesting people from famous actors to musicians, and we are going to go to the smaller cities all over the country, to the far east of the country, and speak about what the ministry is doing and why it’s dangerous. So, this is one of my projects.

Since being dismissed, I’ve been spending a lot of my time with this open culture platform and this strike awareness. There are a lot of activities and we organize press conferences and prepare texts and files for journalists, and we start to we try to organize the community to continue the fight.

The post Q & A: Matej Drlička on His Dismissal From Slovak National Theatre & Rise of Authoritarian Regimes appeared first on OperaWire.

The performance will also broadcast on ARTE in France and the French-speaking countries in Europe and out of Europe; in Germany and German-speaking countries, ČESKÁ TELEVIZE in The Czech Republic, RSI in Switzerland, NHK in Japan, RTP in Portugal, MEDICI TV in Worldwide (USA included – except for Italy, Spain, France and the French-speaking countries, Germany and the German-speaking countries), and Live in cinemas in Italy and abroad. It will also be partially distributed in the UCI Cinemas circuit in major Italian cities. 

On the radio Euroradio Live Circuit will broadcast in Spain, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, France, Slovakia, Slovenia.

“La forza del destino” is the ninth Verdi opera conducted by Riccardo Chailly at La Scala and his tenth season opening. Chailly recently opened the Teatro alla Scala with “Giovanna d’Arco” in 2015, “Attila” in 2018, “Macbeth” in 2021, and “Don Carlo” in 2023.

“La forza del destino” is a work that has been rarely performed at the legendary house with its last presentation in 1999 with Riccardo Muti conducting and in 2001 with Valery Gergiev conducting the Mariinsky Theatre. The only time the opera opened the Teatro alla Scala was in 1965 with Gavazzeni conducting a production by Margherita Wallmann.

For this new production by Leo Muscato, La Scala will showcase Anna Netrebko as Donna Leonora, Brian Jagde as Don Alvaro, Ludovic Tézier as Don Carlo di Vargas, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya as Preziosilla, Alexander Vinogradov as Padre Guardiano, Marco Filippo Romano as Fra Melitone, Fabrizio Beggi as il Marchese di Calatrava, as Carlo Bosi as Mastro Trabuco.

The post How to Watch Teatro alla Scala’s Opening Night ‘La Forza del Destino’ Starring Anna Netrebko & Brian Jagde appeared first on OperaWire.

The European Commission has awarded Opera Europa with a 2,8 million euro grant for four years from 2025 to 2028. This represents the largest grant ever given to Opera Europa since it began its streaming in 2015. Over the years, Opera Europa has assembled a consortium of 44 organizations from 17 countries.

In January 2025, the Opera Europa consortium of opera houses and specialist talent development organizations will launch a program of onsite and online means to support, train and promote over 560 artists over 4 years. The platform offers emerging artists work and visibility through auditions, competitions, and the commitment of its members to give them opportunities to appear on OperaVision.

In a statement Karen Stone Executive Director of Opera Europa said “In a career, spent mostly as director of opera companies, which has taken me from the UK to Austria and Germany (via Dallas!), I have always particularly enjoyed the work of developing the next generation of talent. It is a joy to see a young artist grow out of a nervous audition into fully inhabiting a role on famous stage. Thanks to the European Commission’s support of this platform, Opera Europa has the chance to give more opportunities to emerging talent on a European scale via our wonderful network of colleagues and, indeed on global scale, through our streaming platform OperaVision.”

Here is the list of the Platform members:

Belgium
Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie/De Munt
Opera Ballet Vlaanderen

Croatia
Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb

Czech Republic
Národní divadlo Brno

Finland
Finnish National Opera and Ballet

France
Théâtre National de l’Opéra Comique
Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie
Opéra national du Rhin
Opéra national de Paris
Génération Opéra

Germany
Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf Duisburg
Nationaltheater Mannheim
Rossini in Wildbad
Liz Mohn Stiftung (Neue Stimmen Competition)
Opernstudio North Rhine-Westphalia

Hungary
Hungarian State Opera

Ireland
Irish National Opera
Wexford Festival Opera

Italy
Teatro dell’Opera di Roma
Teatro Regio di Parma
Rossini Opera Festival
Fondazione Mascarade Opera
Opera for Peace
Teatro Regio Torino

Lithuania
Lithuanian National Opera
Klaipeda State Music Theatre

Netherlands
Dutch National Opera and Ballet
’s-Hertogenbosch (IVC) Singing Competition
O Festival

Norway
Queen Sonja Singing Competition
Norwegian National Opera

Poland
Poznań Opera House
Polish National Opera

Slovakia
Slovak National Theatre

Spain
Teatro Real
Grand Teatre del Liceu
Palau de les Arts Valencia
Festival de Peralada

Sweden
Royal Swedish Opera

Ukraine
Kyiv National Operetta Theatre
Dniprovsky Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet
Odessa National Opera
Lviv National Opera
Open Opera Ukraine

The post European Commission Gives Historic Grant to Opera Europa appeared first on OperaWire.

Having recently reviewed a marvelous production of “The Cunning Little Vixen” by the Slovak National Theatre Opera in Bratislava, OperaWire decided to take the opportunity to interview the vixen, played by soprano Adriana Kučerová.

One of the stars of the Slovak National Theatre Opera, Kučerová has an established international reputation and has performed widely in leading opera houses across the globe, including Buenos Aries, Milan’s La Scala, Paris, Vienna and the Salzburg Festival. Owing to family commitments, however, her appearances outside Slovakia are not as frequent as they once were, and she is now a regular at the country’s leading opera house.

Although it was a fascinating interview, in which she discussed her career and her role as the vixen, it rapidly moved into political matters and the turmoil that is affecting the Slovak National Theatre Opera, which, with the artists threatening strike action, almost led to the cancellation of the performance.

OperaWire: What was your pathway into becoming an opera singer?

Adriana Kučerová: I didn’t come from a musical background. I grew up in a small town in Slovakia in which there was no concert hall, not even a theatre, so I started very late. After finishing high school, I went to university, where I qualified as a primary school teacher. So, I was 22 years old and had had hardly anything to do with music.

I did like to sing. but not classical music, and I had no training. I saw my first opera when I was 22 years old. I can’t remember if it was “La Traviata” or “Eugene Onegin,” but I was fascinated. However, this still did not make me think about a professional career in singing.

One day, I was walking through the town, and I saw a music school for children, and I thought, well, if I don’t try now, I never will. I knocked on the door and asked if I could have some singing lessons even though I was too old for the school. The teacher asked me to sing for her, and she told me that I had talent and potential and agreed to work with me. Fortunately, it did have a department for teaching adults! She was really enthusiastic and gave me the courage to continue. One year later, I won a singing competition, and this led me to enrolling at the conservatory in Bratislava at the third level. I had no formal musical background; I couldn’t even recognize the opening of Beethoven’s fifth Symphony at this point.

I then spent two years studying at the conservatory and a further five years at the university. Everything went very well; after all, I was an adult; I was older than the other students. I knew I had to be the best because I was behind the other students, and I had to catch up and work hard. I was very self-critical, I wasn’t young; I wasn’t there for fun. I did a few roles at the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava, such as Morgana in Handel’s “Alcina” in my last year at the university.

On the day I graduated, I was actually in Vienna for the Belvedere competition, in which I won five prizes, including first prize. It was a big surprise to me. This was my first ever competition, apart from the one I won at the beginning of my studies.

Winning catapulted me into the limelight, and I missed the many steps that most singers have to go through in order to establish themselves. My first role was as Serpetta in “La Finta Giardiniera” at the Salzburg festival, conducted by Ivor Bolton, in which Véronique Gens was also singing. It was a strange experience; I was so innocent at the time, and I didn’t know anybody at all.

My career then developed rapidly, and I found myself singing at the top opera houses across the world, such as Milan and Vienna. Then I realized I wanted to have a family, and everything changed. With the first child, I tried to combine both an international career and child-rearing. It was tough, so when the second child came along, I restricted my performances mainly to Bratislava, with only occasional performances elsewhere.

OW: How would you describe your voice?

AK: At the beginning, I was a typical lyric soprano with the possibility of coloratura, playing roles like Adina, Norina, Susanna, and some baroque parts. After having children, my voice didn’t change too much; it sounds a little more mature, more rounded, and a little less girlish, which has allowed me to think a bit more about dramatic roles. However, I do not consider myself to be a dramatic soprano.

OW: Do you have a favorite role?

AK: I know it sounds funny, but it’s always the role I’m singing. At the moment, I am singing the role of the vixen in Janáček’s “The Cunning Little Vixen,” so this is my favorite role. I always find that I fall in love with the role I am working on! However, I must say that the role of Gilda in “Rigoletto” is a particular favorite.

OW: What are your future plans?

AK: I want to return to an international career once my children are a bit older. I have a very special connection with Czech and slavic music and would therefore like to expand my repertoire in this area.

OW: I believe this is the third time you have performed the vixen. How does this presentation compare to previous productions?

AK: This is absolutely different from other productions. This is a production for adults. It is very dark. It is certainly not a fairy tale!

OW: What are your impressions of the vixen?

AK: For me, the vixen is fighting for her liberty. She loves her freedom. She is also a vixen searching for love, which she finds with Gold Stripe, who in this production is female, although I don’t know why. The love scene between them, whether it is two females, or a male and female doesn’t matter; it is very sensual. It is pure love. The vixen is also quite frightened because this is the first time she has experienced love; she has had many bad experiences before and therefore doesn’t trust anyone else. It is a representation of life.

OW: To what extent are the characters human in this production?

AK: It’s not important whether we’re looking at animals or humans; it is about character. Certainly, we’re not supposed to look at these animals as if they are from a zoo. It is not about the animal world. I don’t see a strict differentiation between the animal and the human. At times I move around the stage like an animal, then at other times like a human being. It’s all about character.

OW: How did you find the vocal challenges of singing the role?

AK: It is not like singing Mozart, Puccini or Verdi. There are very few long phrases. It is more about language and diction, and it is very important to get the pronunciation correct, and this can be challenging. In this production, it was particularly challenging because I had to move around a lot. Even before I started singing, I was jumping and running around the stage, which is quite tiring.

OW: What are your thoughts about the production’s director, Sláva Daubnerová?

AK: She is one of Slovakia’s most respected directors but works mainly abroad. In fact, this is her first production for the Slovak National Theatre Opera. She is a fantastic director. She is so precise in what she does; she looks at every detail. Everything is planned thoroughly. And her ability in dealing with the children was excellent. She gives them so much time and works very closely with them. She was very nice with them, but she treated them like adults, and the results were amazing. They looked so natural. It was a very good experience working with her.

OW: How do you rate last evening’s performance?

AK: I had been working very hard and looking forward to the production, but before the performance we decided to make a number of speeches, addressed to the audience, about the situation facing the arts, including the opera, in Slovakia, because of our government’s policies and attitudes. This made me very nervous as it was very personal; my partner, Matej Drlicka, who was the General Director, had invested so much energy, love and positivity into this theatre, but a few weeks ago was unfairly replaced. Having to speak about such personal things in front of the audience was very emotional, also because of what I can see happening to the theatre. Everything was going so well; the opera was successful and growing. Now, I am very worried.

Because of this, I found it difficult to stabilize myself for the first 10 to 15 minutes of the performance.

But it went very well. The atmosphere was beautiful.

We were actually thinking about cancelling the performance in a show of solidarity, but we went ahead with it. It was a good decision because the opera is about liberty and resistance. We said more by performing the opera than we could have by remaining silent.

OW: Is this a very serious problem affecting the opera?

AK: Yes, it is!

The minister of culture has been in her position for about nine months now and is destroying all the good work that has been done. It has been a disaster. Funding is being reduced and jobs are being cut. She is replacing senior people with others who are not as experienced or knowledgable. It is, of course, affecting the opera. Foreign singers have cancelled performances here in Slovakia as they want to demonstrate that they don’t want to cooperate with this type of administration.

I think there will be problems ahead. Actors tend to be very vocal and say what they feel about political events.

I feel as if we’re going backwards. It makes me feel very sad. We don’t seem to recognize what we have and that the Slovak National Theatre is something we need to take care of.

The post Q & A: Soprano Adriana Kučerová on Her Role as the Vixen and the Political Problems Facing Opera in Slovakia appeared first on OperaWire.

It is too often the case that Janáček’s “The Cunning Little Vixen” is presented as an opera for children, no doubt because it has lots of furry animals that talk and sometimes act like humans, although it is also probably a reaction to the fact that Janáček’s inspiration for the opera came from a cartoon strip in his local paper. Even in productions that steer clear of such a presentation, the readings tend to be heavily sentimentalized, so that it becomes a tale that tugs on the heartstrings when the poor vixen is shot by Harašta, the poacher; as the opera draws towards its conclusion,  we are, however, comforted by the forester, who, on seeing a young fox cub, reflects on the inevitable cycle of life and death that affects man and beast alike. The Slovak National Theatre Opera, however, managed to transcend such sentiments with a production that captured the cruelty of all the characters involved, both human and vulpine, and which unequivocally sets the behavior of the humans in a far more negative light with far reaching disastrous consequences.

Daubnerová Unsentimental Tale of Exploitation and Cruelty

It is, of course, impossible for any production to free itself from the anthropomorphic nature of the animals, which is always going to exist given the fact that they talk and exhibit very human reactions. However, the director, Sláva Daubnerová, ensured that this did not end up magnifying the sentimental aspects of the work. Rather, she allowed the animals to embrace both their positive and negative human qualities, so that the courting scene between Sharp Ears and Gold Stripe was very recognizably human, down to the male fox offering the vixen not just a dead rabbit but also tobacco and alcohol. The vixen was also portrayed as a very vain animal who enjoyed looking at herself in the mirror and saw herself as the queen of the forest after kicking the badger from his den. It was a clever interpretation as it presented the animals with negative traits, which acted as a barrier to an overly sentimental reaction from the audience.

Moreover, Daubnerová was also keen to play up the wild nature of the animals themselves, in which play, aggression and killing were part of life. The vixen and her family of cubs were seen playing happily in the forest, but she was equally at ease chasing the badger from his den or slaughtering the rooster and the chickens simply because she could. She was bold and sly and deliberately taunted those around her, including the humans that crossed her path. She was wild; she was not playing a role in a picture book story.

It was a brutal depiction of forest life, in which the lives of the animals and the people cross with unpleasant consequences. The forester caged the animals in what can only be described as something akin to a concentration camp, with the dog acting as a guard, dressed suitably in a semi-militaristic costume. The vixen was brutally maltreated, hung up by her feet in the air in chains. The chickens also suffered at the forester’s hands, exemplified by one chicken, who covered in blood, found laying eggs a painful experience. There was a lot that was uncomfortable to watch, and it successfully managed to muscle out the sentimental.

None of the human characters were given a sympathetic reading; they were garrulous drunks who spent their evenings letting each other know their opinions, oblivious to the suffering of the animals or to the damage they were doing to the planet, which they viewed as no more than a resource, made clear by the fox fur coats lowered from the ceiling after the poacher’s killing spree, in which the vixen was just one of his victims. Even the forester’s sentimental musings were clearly an aberration, and he would, no doubt, soon return to his usual ways.

The brutality and destruction wreaked upon the forest by the humans was reinforced by the scenographer, Volker Hintermeier, who covered the stage with a dark forest of dead trees. It was a message that Daubnerová added to with the introduction of a figure representing the spirit of nature, who appeared occasionally during the performance, either fleeing from the poacher’s gun or in a symbolically strong image in the final scene in which, dressed as a bride, she sat on a proud looking stag.

Hintermeier’s set was not only instrumental in establishing the figurative and symbolic darkness of the forest, but it was also expertly designed to facilitate the drama. Often, productions of “The Cunning Little Vixen” are undermined by the rigidity of the sets, which are unable to move swiftly between the forest, the forester’s house, and the inn, which can lead to a fractured presentation. His use of the rotating stage not only overcame this problem, but it meant that the pattern of the forest landscape was in a constant state of change, where the animals would appear and disappear from among the trees, the vixen and her cubs would play and hide behind the rises of the earth,  and the poacher or forester would suddenly appear from out of the darkness. The short musical interludes thus became opportunities to present life within the forest instead of just disruptive scene changes. Even the inn was designed to fit neatly into the forest so that its arrival on the rotating stage did not destroy the illusion.

The costumes designed by Tereza Kopecká were an interesting mix of traditional late 19th century clothing, as in the case of the forester; Alice in Wonderland absurdities, such as the school teacher with a top hat that must have been a meter in height; with the animals dressed in human clothes, animal costumes, or a combination of the two. It made for an imaginative mix that was visually engaging and successfully reflected the characters. They were perhaps the only aspect of the production that stepped into the world of the comic book, but it worked well.

Valčuha Offers Hope With A Life-affirming Reading

Although it was a dark reading, both visually and in terms of its message, Janáček’s life-affirming score was given a strong, emotionally warm performance by the SND Opera Orchestra under the baton of the conductor, Juraj Valčuha. It was also a dramatically strong and detailed presentation, in which the management of rhythm, pace and dynamics were sensitively aligned to the onstage drama, capturing the full range of the characters’ feelings, ranging from the playful joy of the vixen with her cubs to the aggressive behavior of the forester. Melodies were beautifully elicited, atmospheres sensitively developed, and the sumptuous passages of expansive music were allowed to take wing and fill the auditorium. It acted as perfect counterbalance to Daubnerová’s staging, so that the destructive and cruel were set alongside the restorative qualities and hopes that man can discover in the natural world and keep despair at bay.

With its large cast, consisting of the principal parts, numerous small roles and large chorus, the stage was often bustling with movement as the animals and humans went about their business. It also required plenty of energy from many of the singers, especially the foxes, as they gamboled and moved through the forest. All engaged fully with their roles and made strong impressions.

Soprano Adriana Kučerová was a feisty, wild, bold and loving vixen who embraced life. Her courtship with Gold Stripe and her loving relationship with her cubs were sensitively portrayed, yet she could be provocative and vicious. Vocally, she produced an excellent performance; the voice was firm, expressive and agile with a secure and pleasing upper register, which she used expertly to develop her character.

The vixen’s younger self was played by Petra Simonová, whose fresh sounding and flexible voice were perfect for the role.

Baritone Svatopluk Sem, cast as the forester, Revirnik, produced a compelling performance. There was little about his character one could sympathize with; his forester was a single-minded, aggressive individual that dominated the other characters, human and non-human alike, with, of course, the exception of the vixen, whose untamable nature brought out his frustrations. His singing was forceful, expressive, able to move easily above the orchestra, and clearly articulated, which allowed him to successfully bring out the negative attributes of the forester.

The male fox, Gold Stripes, for reasons that were not apparent, was portrayed as a female fox with its pubic hair vulgarly exposed to reinforce the fact. The role was given an expressively convincing performance by mezzo-soprano Jana Kurucová.

The Schoolmaster, played by tenor Ondrej Šaling, spent most of his time on stage drunk, while his drinking companion, the parson, played by bass Michal Onufer, came across as a suitably ‘dry old stick.’

The dog, Lapák, was presented as vicious and authoritarian by mezzo-soprano Monika Fabianová.

Baritone Martin Morháč, playing the role of Harašta, the poacher, came across as a chancer, a less intense version of the forester but equally oblivious to the health of the forest from which he makes his living.

The cast was completed by soprano Jolana Fogašová as the owl and the forester’s wife; tenor Pavol Muchz as Pásek, the innkeeper; Viktória Svetliková as Mrs. Pásková and the woodpecker; and Vanessa Čierna as the rooster and the jay.

The SND Opera Chorus was kept busy playing the roles of hens, forest creatures and voices of the forest, while a children’s chorus played the role of the fox cubs.

It was very satisfying to see “The Cunning Little Vixen” as a drama shorn of its sentimental trappings and without the usual ‘an opera suitable for children’ label attached. Instead, thanks to Daubnerová’s direction, it became a dark tale of human exploitation and devastation, and in doing so, it successfully highlighted the beauty and spiritual restorative power of nature that pervades Janáček’s music.

The post The Slovak National Theater Opera 2024 Review: The Cunning Little Vixen appeared first on OperaWire.

Soprano Adriana Kučerová is a star of the Opera at the Slovak National Theatre. Having just seen her perform the role of the Vixen in Janacek’s masterpiece in Bratislava, OperaWire thought it would be a good opportunity to find out a little more about her.

OperaWire: What was the first opera you saw?

Adriana Kučerová: “La Traviata.” I was 22 years old at the time.

OW: Did you enjoy it?

AK: Yes, I loved it, especially the costumes.

OW: Who is your favorite opera composer?

AK: Verdi.

OW: Of the operas that you have sung, which is your favorite?

AK: “Rigoletto.”

OW: Of the operas that you have not yet sung, which would you most like to perform?

AK: “Manon” by Massenet.

OW: Which character that you have met on stage have you most disliked?

AK: Nick Shadow from “The Rake’s Progress.”

OW: If you could invite three guests to a dinner party, one of which must be a character from an opera, who would they be?

AK: Falstaff, The Fox from “The Cunning Little Vixen,” and Serse

OW: What annoys you most about a director?

AK: When they go against the emotions experienced by the character

OW: What is your favorite piece of nonclassical music?

AK: Bohemian Rhapsody

OW: Name the person who has had the biggest influence on your career.

AK: My first teacher, Oľga Mojžišová. She gave me the courage to pursue singing as a career.

OW: What book are you reading at the moment?

AK: The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundra

OW: What do you most like about being a singer?

AK: To have the possibility to interpret the music of the great composers in my way.

OW: What do you most dislike about being a singer?

AK: It can be stressful at times.

OW: You are currently performing “The Cunning Little Vixen.” What two characteristics best describe her?

AK: Wild and in love with life.

OW: What qualities do you need to be a successful singer?

AK: A good voice, talent, and good nerves. You must also have a good teacher.

OW: Who is your favorite painter?

AK: Van Gogh

OW: Where do you most like to go on holiday?

AK: The Maldives

OW: Would you like your children to become singers?

AK: No. It is a beautiful thing to be a singer, but there are some negative aspects that I would not like my children to be exposed to.

The post In Less Than Five Minutes, Get To Know Soprano Adriana Kučerová appeared first on OperaWire.

The event will feature mezzo-soprano Shanley Horvitz as she takes on the “Wesendonck Lieder” by Richard Wagner. The program also includes Wagner’s “Waldweben” and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica.” Kyunghun Kim conducts the showcase.

Horvitz has performed with such organizations as the Wagner Society of New York, Opera San José, and Theatro Grattacielo, and has claimed prizes at such events as the Wagner Society of New York, International Czech and Slovak Competition, International Orpheus Competition, Mario Lanza Institute Competition, and Houston Gilbert & Sullivan Competition. She studies under soprano Jennifer Rowley.

There is an option to livestream the opening performance.

The post Shanley Horvitz to Headline Adelphi Orchestra’s ‘Heroic Echoes’ appeared first on OperaWire.