Jarmila Novotná

Jarmila Novotná (born September 23, 1907, in Prague; died February 9, 1994, in New York City) was a celebrated Czech soprano and, from 1940 to 1956, a star of the Metropolitan 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 in Verona as Gilda opposite Giacomo Lauri-Volpi in Verdi's "Rigoletto" and at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples as Adina opposite Tito Schipa in Donizetti's "L'elisir d'amore". In 1929 she joind the Kroll Opera in Berlin, 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 the Vienna State Opera, where she was named "Kammersängerin".

She appeared as Pamina in the 1937 Salzburg Festival production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute", conducted by Arturo Toscanini. In the orchestra pit was the young Georg Solti, who played the glockenspiel 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's Manon, 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 the breeches roles 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 at Auschwitz, in "The Search", starring Montgomery 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