Pavla Vykopalová
Encyclopedia
Pavla Vykopalová is a Czech soprano
.
and graduated in 1993; she then became a member of the Prague Philharmonic Choir. She began her soloist career as a mezzo-soprano
receiving singing lessons from Lenka Šmídová und since 1997 from Jiří Kotouč. In 2006, she made the transition from mezzo to soprano and has been continuing her voice training with Marie Urbanová. Vykopalová's repertoire includes roles from Baroque
period until the 20th century; beside opera roles she devotes herself to oratorio
s, cantata
s and songs, including contemporary works.
During her studies at the conservatory, Vykopalová performed at the Opera Mozart in Prague; in 1988 she was engaged at the opera of the Plzeň (Pilsen) Theatre. Since January 2009, she is member of the opera ensemble at the National Theatre Brno
; she appeared at the same time already since 1999 as a permanent guest artist at the National Theatre
in Prague and the Prague State Opera
. In 2003, she sang the role of Karolka in Janáček's Jenůfa
in a production at the Théâtre du Châtelet
in Paris.
For the role of Mařenka in Smetana's The Bartered Bride
, directed by Ondřej Havelka
at the National Theatre in Brno, Vykopalová received a nomination for the Czech Thalia Price in 2006.
State Opera Prague
National Theatre Brno
Other opera pruductions
Oratorio and cantata repertoire
Song cycles
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
.
Life
Vykopalová studied singing at the Prague ConservatoryPrague Conservatory
Prague Conservatory, sometimes also Prague Conservatoire, in Czech Pražská konzervatoř, is a Czech secondary school in Prague dedicated to teaching the arts of music and theater acting.- Instruction :...
and graduated in 1993; she then became a member of the Prague Philharmonic Choir. She began her soloist career as a mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
receiving singing lessons from Lenka Šmídová und since 1997 from Jiří Kotouč. In 2006, she made the transition from mezzo to soprano and has been continuing her voice training with Marie Urbanová. Vykopalová's repertoire includes roles from Baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
period until the 20th century; beside opera roles she devotes herself to oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
s, cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
s and songs, including contemporary works.
During her studies at the conservatory, Vykopalová performed at the Opera Mozart in Prague; in 1988 she was engaged at the opera of the Plzeň (Pilsen) Theatre. Since January 2009, she is member of the opera ensemble at the National Theatre Brno
National Theatre (Brno)
The National Theatre in Brno is the major theatre house in Brno. It was established in 1884 by model of the National Theatre in Prague.Nowadays it consists of three stages:...
; she appeared at the same time already since 1999 as a permanent guest artist at the National Theatre
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...
in Prague and the Prague State Opera
Prague State Opera
The Prague State Opera , is an opera and ballet company in Prague, Czech Republic. The theatre was originally founded in 1888 as the New German Theatre and from 1949 to 1989 it was known as the Smetana Theatre....
. In 2003, she sang the role of Karolka in Janáček's 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...
in a production at the Théâtre du Châtelet
Théâtre du Châtelet
The Théâtre du Châtelet is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France.One of two theatres built on the site of a châtelet, a small castle or fortress, it was designed by Gabriel Davioud at the request of Baron Haussmann between 1860 and...
in Paris.
For the role of Mařenka in Smetana's 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...
, directed by Ondřej Havelka
Ondřej Havelka
Ondřej Havelka is a Czech jazz and swing singer, an actor and director.-Career:Havelka has been the lead vocalist for the Original Prague Syncopated Orchestra and for Ondřej Havelka and his Melody Makers , and has directed and appeared in musicals and award-winning music videos.-Awards:In 1995...
at the National Theatre in Brno, Vykopalová received a nomination for the Czech Thalia Price in 2006.
Soprano roles
National Theatre Prague- Jenůfa (Janáček: JenůfaJenufaJenůfa 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...
) - Antonia (Offenbach: The Tales of Hoffmann)
- Paskalina (MartinůBohuslav MartinuBohuslav 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...
: The Miracles of Mary) - Mařenka (Smetana: The Bartered BrideThe Bartered BrideThe 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...
) - Fiordiligi (Mozart: Così fan tutteCosì fan tutteCosì fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
) - Countess (Mozart: Le nozze di FigaroThe Marriage of FigaroLe nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
) - Vitellia (Mozart: La clemenza di TitoLa clemenza di TitoLa clemenza di Tito , K. 621, is an opera seria in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Caterino Mazzolà, after Metastasio...
) - Donna Elvira, Zerlina (both Mozart: Don GiovanniDon GiovanniDon Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
) - Pamina (Mozart: The Magic FluteThe Magic FluteThe 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....
)
State Opera Prague
- Desdemona (Verdi: OtelloOtelloOtello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
) - Rusalka (Dvořák: RusalkaRusalka (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...
) - Mimì (Puccini: La bohèmeLa bohèmeLa bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
) - Pamina (Mozart: The Magic Flute)
- Rosina (Rossini: Il barbiere di SivigliaThe Barber of SevilleThe Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
)
National Theatre Brno
- Liu (Puccini: TurandotTurandotTurandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
) - Jenůfa (Janáček: JenůfaJenufaJenůfa 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...
) - Countess (Mozart: Le nozze di FigaroThe Marriage of FigaroLe nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
) - Rosalinda (J. Strauss II: Die FledermausDie FledermausDie Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
) - Lauretta (Puccini: Gianni SchicchiGianni SchicchiGianni Schicchi is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy. The work is the third and final part of Puccini's Il trittico —three one-act operas with...
) - Nedda (Leoncavallo: PagliacciPagliacciPagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
) - Mařenka (Smetana: The Bartered Bride)
- Julietta (Martinů: JuliettaJuliettaJulietta 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...
) - Rosina (Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia)
Other opera pruductions
- Clarice (G. ScarlattiGiuseppe ScarlattiGiuseppe Scarlatti was a composer of opere serie and opere buffe. He worked in Rome from 1739 to 1741, and from 1752 to 1754 in Florence, Pisa, Lucca and Turin. From 1752 to 1754, and again from 1756 to 1759, he worked in Venice and for short periods in Milan and Barcelona...
: Dove è amore è gelosia – Concert performance)
Oratorio and cantata repertoire
- A. Scarlatti: Stabat Mater
- Zelenka: Missa Dei Filii
- F. X. Brixi: Missa pastoralis
- Vaňhal: Stabat Mater
- Mozart: The Great Mass in C minor
- Mozart: Exultate, jubilate, KV 166
- Mozart: Requiem
- Dvořák: The Wedding Shirts
- Dvořák: Saint Ludmila
- Dvořák: Mass in D major
- Dvořák: Requiem
- Dvořák: Te Deum
- Fauré: Requiem
Song cycles
- Dvořák: Love Songs, op.83
- Wiedermann: Spiritual Chants
- Martinů: The New Špalíček, H 288
- Shostakovich: From Jewish Folk Poetry, op.79
- Pololáník: The Easter Journey
Former mezzo-soprano roles
- Dido (Purcell: Dido and AeneasDido and AeneasDido and Aeneas is an opera in a prologue and three acts by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell to a libretto by Nahum Tate. The first known performance was at Josias Priest's girls' school in London no later than the summer of 1688. The story is based on Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid...
– Pilsen Theatre) - Ruggiero (Händel: AlcinaAlcinaAlcina is an opera seria by George Frideric Handel. Handel used the libretto of L'isola di Alcina, an opera that was set in 1728 in Rome by Riccardo Broschi, which he acquired the year after, during his travels in Italy...
– Concert performance) - Bertarido (Händel: Rodelinda – Concert performance)
- Rinaldo (Händel: RinaldoRinaldo (opera)Rinaldo is an opera by George Frideric Handel composed in 1711. It is the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage. The libretto was prepared by Giacomo Rossi from a scenario provided by Aaron Hill. The work was first performed at the Queen's Theatre in London's...
– Concert performance) - Elisa (G. B. BononciniGiovanni Battista BononciniGiovanni Battista Bononcini was an Italian Baroque composer and cellist, one of a family of string players and composers. His father, Giovanni Maria Bononcini , was a violinist and a composer.-Biography:...
: Astarto – Concert performance) - Vénus (Saint-Saëns: HélèneHélène (opera)Hélène is a poème lyrique or opera in one act by composer Camille Saint-Saëns. It is the first opera for which Saint-Saëns wrote his own French libretto which is based on the classic story of Helen of Troy and Paris from Greek mythology. The opera premiered at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in Monaco on...
– Concert performance) - Alcina (Vivaldi: Orlando furiosoOrlando furioso (Vivaldi)Orlando furioso is an opera in three acts by Antonio Vivaldi to an Italian libretto by Grazio Braccioli, based on the poem of the same name by Ariosto. The first performance of the opera was at Teatro San Angelo, Venice, in 1727....
– State Opera Prague) - Prince Orlofsky (J. Strauss II: Die Fledermaus – State Opera Prague)
- Fenena (Verdi: NabuccoNabuccoNabucco is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the Biblical story and the 1836 play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornue...
– State Opera Prague) - Mercedes (Bizet: CarmenCarmenCarmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
– State Opera Prague) - Béatrice (Berlioz: Béatrice et BénédictBéatrice et BénédictBéatrice et Bénédict is an opera in two acts by Hector Berlioz. Berlioz wrote the French libretto himself, based closely on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing....
– State Opera Prag) - Second Lady (Mozart: The Magic Flute – State Opera Prague; National Theatre Prague)
- Second Wood Sprite (Dvořák: Rusalka – State Opera Prague; National Theatre Prague)
- Dorabella (Mozart: Così fan tutte – Opera Mozart; State Opera Prague; National Theatre Prague)
- Hirte (Puccini: ToscaToscaTosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
– National Theatre Prague) - Záviš (Smetana: The Devil's WallThe Devil's WallThe Devil's Wall is a comic-romantic opera in three acts, with music by Bedřich Smetana and libretto by Eliška Krásnohorská, in their third operatic collaboration...
– National Theatre Prague) - Cherubino (Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro – National Theatre Prague)
- Minerva (Rameau: Castor et PolluxCastor et PolluxCastor et Pollux is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, first performed on 24 October 1737 at the Académie royale de musique in Paris. The librettist was Pierre-Joseph-Justin Bernard, whose reputation as a salon poet it made. This was the third opera by Rameau and his second in the form of the...
– National Theatre Prague) - Karolka (Janáček: JenůfaJenufaJenůfa 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...
– National Theatre Prague; Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris)
Recordings
- 1998 Jakub Jan RybaJakub Jan RybaJakub Šimon Jan Ryba was a Czech teacher and composer of classical music. His most famous work is Czech Christmas Mass "Hey, Master!" ....
: Czech Christmas MassCzech Christmas MassCzech Christmas Mass is a classic pastoral mass written by the Czech composer Jakub Jan Ryba in 1796...
(Zdena Kloubová, Pavla Vykopalová, Tomáš Černý, Roman Janál; Czech Radio Chamber Choir; Kühn Children Choir; Virtuosi di Praga) - 2003 Antonín RejchaAnton ReichaAnton Reicha was a Czech-born, later naturalized French composer. A contemporary and lifelong friend of Beethoven, Reicha is now best remembered for his substantial early contribution to the wind quintet literature and his role as a teacher – his pupils included Franz Liszt and Hector Berlioz...
– Lenore (Dramatic Cantata after G.&.B.Bürger (1805/1806), Camilla Nylund (Lenore), Pavla Vykopalová (Mother), Corby Welch (Narrator), Vladimir Chmelo (Wilhelm), Prague Chamber Choir - 2005 Bedřich Antonín WiedermannBedrich Antonín WiedermannBedřich Antonín Wiedermann was a Czech organist, composer, and teacher....
(Irena Chřibková – organ, Pavla Vykopalová – mezzo-soprano); the CD contains unique and until that time not recorded works of a composer and organist (1883–1951) who worked at the St. Jacob‘s Basilika in Prague.
External links
- Official Homepage of Pavla Vykopalová
- Interview for the OperaPLUS portal, February 2010