Jarmila Novotná
Jarmila Novotná ( born September 23, 1907 in Prague, † February 9, 1994 in New York City ) was a Czech soprano and actress.
She studied voice with Emmy Destinn and Hilbert Vavia at the Prague Conservatory in 1924 and began her career as a concert singer. Later, she perfected in Milan with Antonio Guarnieri. In 1925 she sang Marie in The Bartered Bride, and had their first major success in 1926 as Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata at the National Theatre in Prague.
In 1928 she sang at the Festival of Verona Gilda in Rigoletto. In 1929, she guested at the invitation of conductor Otto Klemperer at the Kroll Opera House in Berlin, and later she had until 1933 an engagement at the State Opera. At the playhouse she joined Max Reinhardt's productions of The beautiful Helena and The Tales of Hoffmann, and was on January 20, 1933 Partner of Richard Tauber at the premiere of the operetta Frühlingsstürme Jaromír Weinberger at the Admiral Palace. The popular singer also received offers of young talkies and was, among other leading lady in Max Ophuls ' opera adaptation of The Bartered Bride.
Since 1929 she performed at the Staatsoper in Vienna and in 1933 became a member of its ensemble. In the premiere of Franz Lehár's operetta Giuditta on 20 January 1934, she sang the title role. 1935 to 1937 she appeared in Mozart and Strauss performances of the Salzburg Festival. Guest appearances they had in Berlin, Munich, Rome, Paris and Brussels.
At La Scala in Milan in 1937, she embodied Nannetta in Falstaff and in the same year and in 1939 Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro. In 1938, she left Vienna and went to the USA. In San Francisco, she sang Madame Butterfly in 1939 and debuted in 1940 as Mimi in La Bohème at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Here she sang until 1957 14 games in 142 performances. Especially her role as Violetta in La Traviata brought her the reputation as one of the best singer of her time.
In 1942 the news of the destruction of the Czech village of Lidice, she sang in several charity concerts czech folk songs, in which Jan Masaryk they accompanied at the piano. Concert tours have taken her to Buenos Aires in 1942 and 1943 to Rio de Janeiro. After the war, she sang in 1946 at the National Theatre in Prague, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin and guested in Warsaw, Zagreb, Belgrade, Gothenburg and in 1957 at the Vienna Volksoper.
Jarmila Novotná was married to the Czech Baron Dauček since 1933 and became a mother of two children. She lived until the death of her husband in 1981 mainly in Vienna and then returned to her children back in New York.
Filmography
Clips
- The Magic Flute - Toscanini - Salzburg 1937 - Act 1
- The Magic Flute - Toscanini - Salzburg 1937 - Act 2
Alexander Kipnis - Sarastro, Julia Osváth - Queen of the Night, Jarmila Novotná - Pamina, Helge Rosvaenge - Tamino, Willi Domgraf - Fassbaender - Papageno, Dora Komarek - Papagena, Alfred Jerger - Speaker, William Wernigk - Monostatos (live July 30, 1937 Salzburg Festival )