Soňa Červená

Soňa Červená (9 September 1925 – 7 May 2023) was a Czech operatic mezzo-soprano, actress and writer. She had an international career as a singer from the 1950s, first at the Berlin State Opera in East Berlin and from 1962 in the West, mainly at the Oper Frankfurt and the San Francisco Opera. She was known for Bizet's Carmen, her signature role, and the title role in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, but also performed in world premieres, and promoted Leoš Janáček's operas in Czech.

After her singing career, she turned to acting at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg where she worked with Robert Wilson. After the fall of the Iron Curtain she returned as a guest to her home country, starring as Emilia Marty in a Wilson production of The Makropulos Case at the National Theatre in Prague. She wrote an autobiography, and a biography of her great-grandfather, Václav František Červený, who was a notable brass instrument maker.

Life and career Family background Born in Prague on 9 September 1925, Červená was the daughter of Czech writer Jiří Červený and Žofie Veselíková, and the great-granddaughter of brass instrument maker Václav František Červený. Her parents were imprisoned by the Nazis during World War II. Her mother died in a communist prison in 1948, the year of the communist coup d'état in Czechoslovakia. Červená learned about her mother's death, and with the help of a pathologist recovered her body to secretly bury her in the family grave in Prague. Červená told a reporter from The Los Angeles Times in a 1962 interview that she believed the communist authorities killed her mother. Because her family had no money to pay for singing lessons, she worked for three years in theater saving money to obtain them. She then studied voice with Robert Rozner and Lydia Wegner-Salmowá in Prague before beginning her career as a performer with an operetta ensemble in Prague. She made her professional opera debut in 1954 at the Janáček-Oper in Brno where she remained for the next three years. She had a major success there in the title role of Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss. She repeated the role at the National Theatre in Prague.

She made her debut at the Berlin State Opera in East Berlin in 1958, again as the Rosenkavalier. She was awarded the title Kammersängerin in 1960 for her portrayal of Orpheus, at the time the youngest woman earning the title.

Western Europe and the United States Červená escaped to West Berlin in January 1962, and said that she could not sing in a country that was not free. She was first engaged at the Deutsche Oper Berlin Her roles also included the Fortuneteller in Prokofiev's The Fiery Angel, and the Kabanicha in Janáček's Káťa Kabanová. She took part in the first production in Frankfurt of Luigi Nono's Al gran sole carico d'amore in 1977.

She appeared at La Scala in Milan, She appeared as Countess Geschwitz in Alban Berg's Lulu in a 1966 production of the Staatsoper Stuttgart, directed by Wieland Wagner and alongside Anja Silja in the title role. It was also presented at the Edinburgh Festival, where she also performed as Baba the Turk in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress in 1967, and as Carolina in Henze's Elegy for Young Lovers several times. The review in The Province from Vancouver, British Columbia, called Červená "magnificent" in the role and deemed the performance "the best Carmen San Francisco has ever had". She would go on to perform the role of Carmen more than 100 times. Her performance of Berta in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia was noted as a "standout" comedic interpretation in a cast of comedians. Her versatility in drastically changing her appearance and lack of fear of appearing ugly, as well as her acting training and singing ability, gave her the opportunity to play varied characters. and her role as the wife of a corrupt official in the United States premiere of Gunther Schuller's The Visitation, "most impressive". Other roles she performed in San Francisco included Azucena in Verdi's Il trovatore, Clairon in Capriccio by Richard Strauss, Countess de Coigny in Giordano's Andrea Chénier, as Rossweiße, Fricka and the First Norn in Wagner's Ring, Herodias in Salome by R. Strauss, Marcellina in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, the Marquise of Birkenfeld in Donizetti's La fille du régiment, Marthe Schwertlein in Gounod's Faust, and the mother in Charpentier's Louise. Martin Bernheimer on the other hand, described Červená's Orlofsky as missing the essential tone for the caricature and noted her trouble with vocal descents and the English text. After a nine-year absence, Červená returned to San Francisco in 1980 to portray Countess Waldner in Arabella by R. Strauss, Flora in Verdi's La traviata, Mamma Lucia in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, and Starenka Buryjovka in Janáček's Jenůfa.

Acting career after retirement from opera

After retiring from the opera stage, Červená moved to Hamburg in 1989 and turned to acting at the Thalia Theater where she worked with director Robert Wilson. She was awarded the Alfréd Radok Award for Best Actress in 2008. In 2013, she received both the Gold Medal from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, and a Czech state decoration. The 26897 Červená asteroid is named after her.