- Jarmila Novotná
Jarmila Novotná (born
September 23 ,1907 , inPrague ; diedFebruary 9 ,1994 , inNew York City ) was a celebrated Czechsoprano and, from 1940 to 1956, a star of theMetropolitan Opera .Early career
A student of
Emmy Destinn , Novotná made her operatic debut at the Prague Opera House, on June 28, 1925, as Marenka in Smetana's "The Bartered Bride ". Six days later, she sang there as Violetta in Verdi's "La traviata ". In 1928 she starred inVerona as Gilda oppositeGiacomo Lauri-Volpi in Verdi's "Rigoletto " and at theTeatro San Carlo inNaples as Adina oppositeTito Schipa in Donizetti's "L'elisir d'amore ". In 1929 she joind theKroll Opera inBerlin , where she sang Violetta as well as the title roles of Puccini's "Manon Lescaut " and "Madama Butterfly ".Vienna and New York
In 1934 she left Berlin for
Vienna , where she created the title role in Lehár's "Giuditta ". Her immense success in that role led to a contract with theVienna State Opera , where she was named "Kammersängerin".She appeared as Pamina in the 1937
Salzburg Festival production ofMozart 's "The Magic Flute ", conducted byArturo Toscanini . In the orchestra pit was the youngGeorg Solti , who played theglockenspiel in the opera.On January 5, 1940, she made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera, as Mimí in Puccini's "
La bohème ". She also appeared in twelve other roles at the Met: Euridice, Violetta, Cherubino, Massenet'sManon , Marenka, Donna Elvira, Pamina, Octavian, Antonia, Freia, Mélisande, and Count Orlofsky, the role of her farewell performance on January 15, 1956. Of her 208 appearances at the Met, 103 were in thebreeches role s of Count Orlofsky, Cherubino, and Octavian.Films
She appeared in several films, including
Max Ophüls 's 1932 version of "The Bartered Bride". In 1948, she won acclaim for playing the non-singing role of a young mother looking for her son after being a prisoner atAuschwitz , in "The Search ", starringMontgomery Clift .Bibliography
* "The Last Prima Donnas", by Lanfranco Rasponi, Alfred A Knopf, 1982. ISBN 0-394-52153-6
External links
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=41:43202 Erik Eriksson's brief biography of Jarmila Novotná at allmusic.com]
* [http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm MetOpera database]
* [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=892 Fotos von Jarmilla Novotná]
* [http://www.bruceduffie.com/novotna.html Jarmila Novotná interview] by Bruce Duffie
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