Gala Concert – A Tribute to Jarmila Novotná

The gala concert ‚A Tribute to Jarmila Novotná’  is the grand finale of our three-year effort to raise the awareness of this renowned Czech singer.

Jarmila Novotná (1907 – 1994) was viewed as one of the brightest stars of the 20th century opera world. During her professional career she performed in opera houses all over the world. Due to historical circumstances her name did not have an appropriate resonance in her home country. We believe that with all our efforts, we have managed to remedy this historical guilt; – at least a bit. Therefore we proudly give this year‘s festival a subtitle ‚Reconciliation with the past‘.

Tickets are on sale at www.ticketstream.cz  starting March 1, 2014.

The gala concert is going to take place in Liteň, located in Central Bohemia.  Chateau Liteň, with its strong and unique magical beauty.  Unfortunately, it only became her and her family‘s temporary home. Yet, it was the only place where she stated that she actually “was happiest”.

After many successful performances in the Czech National Theatre, Verona, Berlin and Vienna, Jarmila Novotna became a resident of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where she spent a full sixteen seasons (1940–1956). She portrayed many significant characters. Her Mařenka in Prodaná Nevěsta (The Bartered Bride), Violetta in Traviata or Gilda in Rigoletto, the dual role Olympia/Antonia in Les Contes D‘Hoffmann, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro or Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier  belong to the many unforgettable perfmormances.

After World War II. Jarmila Novotna sang at a concert for the Red Cross Organization in the National Theatre in Prague in May 1946. A year later she performed there again, as Mařenka, Violetta and then for the very last time as Tatiana on November 24, 1947.  She had to leave the country once again after the Communists’ putsch in February 1948. The family’s entire property was re-confiscated. However, she never turned her back on her home country. She returned after the Velvet Revolution in 1989 to continue actively yo support Czech cultural life. President Václav Havel decorated her with the State Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk.

Always elegant and attractive, she had many admirers and suitors. She also conquered Hollywood with her charisma.

Her professional, single-minded attitude won her friendships equally with artists and politicians (T. G. Masaryk, Jan Masaryk, Edvard Beneš, American presidents).

Read more about Jarmila Novotná’s life and work here.

Tickets available at TICKETSTREAM.cz, ČEDOK travel agency offices and KANZELSBERGER bookstores, www.ticketstream.cz. 

You can purchase an E-TICKET for the event.

Pay for it and conveniently download and print your online ticket at home!