Ivo Zídek
Encyclopedia
Ivo Žídek was a celebrated Czech lyric tenor, known for his vivid portrayals of character roles in the operas of Smetana
, Dvorák
and Janáček.
, Czechoslovakia
near the Czech-Polish border in the region formerly known as Silesia
. He was descended from a long family line of music teachers and cantors. His father, Libor Zídek, was also an actor and a singer. As a youth, he was schooled in Outrava (Moresque Ostrava) where he studied painting because the local music schools had been closed under the Nazi occupation. However, he studied voice privately with Rudolf Vašek (at first, as a baritone) and studied music theory with Josef Schreiber
. He was invited by conductor Zdeněk Chalabala
to sing with the opera
company in Ostrava
, making his debut in the title role of Jules Massenet
's Werther
" in 1944. He continued singing in Ostrava until 1948.
with the National Theatre as Jeník in Bedřich Smetana
's Prodaná nevesta (The Bartered Bride
) – a signature role he would repeat over 500 times – as well as parts in Smetana's Tajemství (The Secret
) and Zdeněk Fibich
's Bouře (The Tempest). The following year, he joined the national company as a principal soloist and remained there for the next 37 years.
At the National Theater
, Zídek became strongly associated with many of the lyric tenor roles in the Czech and Slovak operatic repertoire. His bright, youthful voice was ideally suited for the Prince in Antonín Dvořák
's Rusalka
. Over the years, he portrayed not only staple roles by Smetana, Dvorák, Janáček and Martinů but also characters in the operas of Fibich, Karel Kovarovic
, Otakar Ostrčil
, Eugen Suchoň
and Ján Cikker
.
Zídek sang numerous roles in the operas of Leoš Janáček
: Steva and Laca in Její pastorkyna (Jenůfa
); the triple roles of Mazal, Azurean and Petrík in Vylety pana Broucka (The Excursions of Mr. Brouček); Gregor in Vec Makropulos (The Makropulos Case); and the lovesick murderer Skuratov in Z mrtvého domu (From the House of the Dead
), a role he reprised at the 1983 American (live) premiere of the opera with the New York Philharmonic
.
In the operas of Bohuslav Martinů
, Zídek was known for his portrayals of Michel in Julietta
, Manolois in Recké pasije (The Greek Passion
) and Fabrizio in Mirandolina
. Beyond his native repertoire, he was known for his portrayals of Tamino in The Magic Flute
and Tom Rakewell in The Rake's Progress
.
from 1956 to 1971 and at the Deutsche Staatsoper
in Berlin from 1954 to 1968. In addition, he appeared in other European opera houses, in South America and at the Wexford opera festival in Ireland.
During the Prague National Theater's two residencies at the Edinburgh Festival
in 1964 and 1970, the company mounted several acclaimed productions of Czech operas when Zídek and fellow company members Beno Blachut
and Helena Tattermuschová
were at the height of their powers. In 1964, he appeared as the Prince in Rusalka and Skuratov in the original version of From the House of the Dead; the latter production was recorded on Supraphon the following year under the direction of Bohumil Gregor. In 1970, he was Dalibor in Smetana's opera and again sang Jeník as well as roles in The Makropulos Case and The Excursions of Mr Brouček.
During the 1960s and early 1970s, Zídek and the Prague National Theater recorded the entire catalogue of Janáček operas on the Supraphon label.
. He made his last stage appearance in 1985 singing Adam Ecl in Karel Kovarovic's opera Psohlavci (The Dogheads) before retiring from the stage. However, his retirement was short-lived. He was recalled in 1989 to take over as director of the National Theatre opera company, and he guided it through the early years of the new democratic republic following the Velvet Revolution.
Though not a member of the Communist party, Zídek was awarded a state prize in 1952, made a Merited Artist in 1958 and a National Artist in 1976. He publicly renounced those titles during the Velvet Revolution in November 1989 when he joined Václav Havel
on the balcony overlooking the packed Wenceslas Square and led the crowds in singing the Czech National Anthem.
Not long afterward, the Edinburgh Festival extended another invitation to the National Theater for an opera residency, but Zídek declined, claiming that his company was not artistically ready to meet the standards of the festival or the company's former glory. He retired as opera company director in 1991 but continued to direct opera productions there until 2001.
Ivo Zídek was married to Libuse Mrázová in 1947, and the couple had two sons who carried on the family musical tradition - Ivo, a stage designer, and Libor, a soloist with the operetta company at Karlín. He died in Prague in 2003 after a long illness.
Smetana
Smetana is a Slavic loanword in English for a dairy product that is produced by souring heavy cream. Smetana is from Central and Eastern Europe, sometimes perceived to be specifically of Russian origin. It is a soured cream product like crème fraîche , but nowadays mainly sold with 15% to 30%...
, Dvorák
Dvorák
- Dvořák or Dvorak :* Ann Dvorak , American film actress* Antonín Dvořák , Czech composer of Romantic music* August Dvorak , American psychologist, co-creator of the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard...
and Janáček.
Early life
Ivo Zídek was born in KravařeKravare
Kravaře is a town in Silesia in the Czech Republic. It has 6,650 inhabitants. It is located between Ostrava and Opava . It is part of the Hlučínsko micro-region.-History of the town:The first historical record of Kravaře is from 1224...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
near the Czech-Polish border in the region formerly known as Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
. He was descended from a long family line of music teachers and cantors. His father, Libor Zídek, was also an actor and a singer. As a youth, he was schooled in Outrava (Moresque Ostrava) where he studied painting because the local music schools had been closed under the Nazi occupation. However, he studied voice privately with Rudolf Vašek (at first, as a baritone) and studied music theory with Josef Schreiber
Josef Schreiber
Josef Schreiber was an Oberfeldwebel in the Wehrmacht during World War II, and one of only 882 recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...
. He was invited by conductor Zdeněk Chalabala
Zdenek Chalabala
Zdeněk Chalabala was a Czech conductor. He conducted orchestras in Prague, Ostrava, Moscow.In 1924 he founded Slovácká filharmonie. He was chief opera conductor of the Slovak National Theatre, where he produced many Yugoslav and Russian operas. He was also conductor in the National Theatre of Brno...
to sing with the opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
company in Ostrava
Ostrava
Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic and the second largest urban agglomeration after Prague. Located close to the Polish border, it is also the administrative center of the Moravian-Silesian Region and of the Municipality with Extended Competence. Ostrava was candidate for the...
, making his debut in the title role of Jules Massenet
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
's Werther
Werther
Werther is an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann based on the German epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe....
" in 1944. He continued singing in Ostrava until 1948.
National Theater of Prague
In 1947, he was invited to Prague to appear as guest soloistSolo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
with the National Theatre as Jeník in Bedřich Smetana
Bedrich Smetana
Bedřich Smetana was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music...
's Prodaná nevesta (The Bartered Bride
The Bartered Bride
The Bartered Bride is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The opera is considered to have made a major contribution towards the development of Czech music. It was composed during the period 1863–66, and first performed at the...
) – a signature role he would repeat over 500 times – as well as parts in Smetana's Tajemství (The Secret
The Secret (opera)
The Secret is a comic opera in three acts by Bedřich Smetana. The libretto was written by Eliška Krásnohorská. The premiere took place September 18, 1878 at the Nové České Divadlo in Prague.-Background:...
) and Zdeněk Fibich
Zdenek Fibich
Zdeněk Fibich was a Czech composer of classical music. Among his compositions are chamber works , symphonic poems, three symphonies, at least seven operas , melodramas including the substantial trilogy Hippodamia,...
's Bouře (The Tempest). The following year, he joined the national company as a principal soloist and remained there for the next 37 years.
At the National Theater
National Theatre (Prague)
The National Theatre in Prague is known as the Alma Mater of Czech opera, and as the national monument of Czech history and art.The National Theatre belongs to the most important Czech cultural institutions, with a rich artistic tradition which was created and maintained by the most distinguished...
, Zídek became strongly associated with many of the lyric tenor roles in the Czech and Slovak operatic repertoire. His bright, youthful voice was ideally suited for the Prince in Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
's Rusalka
Rusalka (opera)
Rusalka is an opera by Antonín Dvořák. The Czech libretto was written by the poet Jaroslav Kvapil based on the fairy tales of Karel Jaromír Erben and Božena Němcová. Rusalka is one of the most successful Czech operas, and represents a cornerstone of the repertoire of Czech opera houses...
. Over the years, he portrayed not only staple roles by Smetana, Dvorák, Janáček and Martinů but also characters in the operas of Fibich, Karel Kovarovic
Karel Kovarovic
Karel Kovařovic was a Czech composer and conductor.-Life:From 1873 to 1879 he studied clarinet, harp and piano at the Prague Conservatory. He began his career as a harpist...
, Otakar Ostrčil
Otakar Ostrcil
Otakar Ostrčil was a Czech composer and conductor. He is noted for symphonic works Impromptu, Suite in C Minor, and Symfonietta, and in his opera compositions Poupě and Honzovo království.-Compositional career:Ostrčil was born in Prague, where he spent his entire life, as it was the center of the...
, Eugen Suchoň
Eugen Suchon
Eugen Suchoň was one of the greatest Slovak composers of the 20th century.-Early life:...
and Ján Cikker
Ján Cikker
Ján Cikker was a Slovak composer, a leading exponent of modern Slovak classical music. He was awarded the title National Artist in Slovakia, the Herder Prize and the UNESCO Prize .-Life:...
.
Zídek sang numerous roles in the operas of Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
: Steva and Laca in Její pastorkyna (Jenůfa
Jenufa
Jenůfa is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the play Její pastorkyňa by Gabriela Preissová. It was first performed at the Brno Theater, Brno, 21 January 1904...
); the triple roles of Mazal, Azurean and Petrík in Vylety pana Broucka (The Excursions of Mr. Brouček); Gregor in Vec Makropulos (The Makropulos Case); and the lovesick murderer Skuratov in Z mrtvého domu (From the House of the Dead
From the House of the Dead
From the House of the Dead is an opera by Leoš Janáček, in three acts. The libretto was translated and adapted by the composer from the novel by Dostoyevsky...
), a role he reprised at the 1983 American (live) premiere of the opera with the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
.
In the operas of Bohuslav Martinů
Bohuslav Martinu
Bohuslav Martinů was a prolific Czech composer of modern classical music. He was of Czech and Rumanian ancestry. Martinů wrote six symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. Martinů became a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic...
, Zídek was known for his portrayals of Michel in Julietta
Julietta
Julietta is an opera by Bohuslav Martinů, who also wrote the libretto, which is based on the play Juliette, ou La clé des songes by the French author Georges Neveux. The opera received its first performance at the National Theatre, Prague on 16 March 1938, with Ota Horaková in the title role and...
, Manolois in Recké pasije (The Greek Passion
The Greek Passion (opera)
The Greek Passion is an opera in four acts by Bohuslav Martinů. The libretto, by the composer, is based on the novel The Greek Passion by Nikos Kazantzakis. The opera exists in two versions. Martinů wrote the original version from 1954 to 1957...
) and Fabrizio in Mirandolina
Mirandolina
Mirandolina is a comic opera in three acts by Bohuslav Martinů, with a libretto by the composer after Carlo Goldoni's comedy The Mistress of the Inn ....
. Beyond his native repertoire, he was known for his portrayals of Tamino in The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
and Tom Rakewell in The Rake's Progress
The Rake's Progress
The Rake's Progress is an opera in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings A Rake's Progress of William Hogarth, which Stravinsky had seen on May 2, 1947, in a Chicago...
.
International career
Zídek was a welcome guest in foreign opera houses beginning early in his career. He sang at the Vienna State OperaVienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
from 1956 to 1971 and at the Deutsche Staatsoper
Berlin State Opera
The Staatsoper Unter den Linden is a German opera company. Its permanent home is the opera house on the Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra.-Early years:...
in Berlin from 1954 to 1968. In addition, he appeared in other European opera houses, in South America and at the Wexford opera festival in Ireland.
During the Prague National Theater's two residencies at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
in 1964 and 1970, the company mounted several acclaimed productions of Czech operas when Zídek and fellow company members Beno Blachut
Beno Blachut
Beno Blachut was a lauded Czech operatic tenor. An icon in his own nation, Blachut drew international acclaim through his many commercial recordings of Czech music. He was an instrumental part of the post-World War II school of Czech opera singers that were responsible for popularizing Czech opera...
and Helena Tattermuschová
Helena Tattermuschová
Helena Tattermuschová is a Czech lyric coloratura soprano, known chiefly for her character roles in the operas of Mozart and Janáček....
were at the height of their powers. In 1964, he appeared as the Prince in Rusalka and Skuratov in the original version of From the House of the Dead; the latter production was recorded on Supraphon the following year under the direction of Bohumil Gregor. In 1970, he was Dalibor in Smetana's opera and again sang Jeník as well as roles in The Makropulos Case and The Excursions of Mr Brouček.
During the 1960s and early 1970s, Zídek and the Prague National Theater recorded the entire catalogue of Janáček operas on the Supraphon label.
Retirement and National Theater Directorship
Zídek was active as a singer into the 1980s. By then, his voice – which had never been a powerful one – had darkened and lost some of the timbre that had made him the model of a callow young lover. He moved on to more mature roles such as Peter GrimesPeter Grimes
Peter Grimes is an opera by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto adapted by Montagu Slater from the Peter Grimes section of George Crabbe's poem The Borough...
. He made his last stage appearance in 1985 singing Adam Ecl in Karel Kovarovic's opera Psohlavci (The Dogheads) before retiring from the stage. However, his retirement was short-lived. He was recalled in 1989 to take over as director of the National Theatre opera company, and he guided it through the early years of the new democratic republic following the Velvet Revolution.
Though not a member of the Communist party, Zídek was awarded a state prize in 1952, made a Merited Artist in 1958 and a National Artist in 1976. He publicly renounced those titles during the Velvet Revolution in November 1989 when he joined Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
on the balcony overlooking the packed Wenceslas Square and led the crowds in singing the Czech National Anthem.
Not long afterward, the Edinburgh Festival extended another invitation to the National Theater for an opera residency, but Zídek declined, claiming that his company was not artistically ready to meet the standards of the festival or the company's former glory. He retired as opera company director in 1991 but continued to direct opera productions there until 2001.
Ivo Zídek was married to Libuse Mrázová in 1947, and the couple had two sons who carried on the family musical tradition - Ivo, a stage designer, and Libor, a soloist with the operetta company at Karlín. He died in Prague in 2003 after a long illness.