Jarmila Novotná

The Bartered Bride in 1932

Jarmila Novotná (born September 23, 1907 in Prague , † February 9, 1994 in New York City ) was a Czech opera singer ( soprano ) and actress .

Life

Novotná studied singing with Emmy Destinn and Hilbert Vavia at the Prague Conservatory and began her career as a concert singer in 1924. Later she perfected herself in Milan with Antonio Guarnieri. As early as 1925 she sang Marie in The Bartered Bride and in 1926 she had her first great success as Violetta in Verdi's La traviata at the Prague National Theater .

In 1928 Novotná sang Gilda in Rigoletto at the Verona Festival . 1929 she performed at the invitation of conductor Otto Klemperer at the Kroll Opera House in Berlin, and then she had to 1933 a commitment at the State Opera . At the Schauspielhaus she appeared in Max Reinhardt's productions of Die Schöne Helena and Hoffmann's stories and was Richard Tauber's partner on January 20, 1933 at the world premiere of Jaromír Weinberger's operetta Spring Storms in the Admiralspalast . The popular singer also received offers for the young sound film and was, among other things, leading actress in Max Ophüls ' opera adaptation The Bartered Bride .

From 1929 Novotná performed at the Vienna State Opera and became a member of the ensemble there in 1933 . In the world premiere of Franz Lehár's operetta Giuditta on January 20, 1934 she sang the title role. From 1935 to 1937 she took part in Mozart and Strauss performances at the Salzburg Festival . She had guest appearances in Berlin, Munich, Rome, Paris and Brussels.

At La Scala in Milan she played Nannetta in Falstaff in 1937 and Cherubino in Figaro's wedding in the same year and 1939 . In 1938 she left Vienna and went to the USA. In 1939 she sang Madame Butterfly in San Francisco and made her debut in 1940 as Mimi in La Bohème at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Here Novotná sang 14 parts in 142 performances until 1957. Especially her role as Violetta in La traviata earned her the reputation of one of the best singers of her time.

When the news of the destruction of the Czech town of Lidice arrived in 1942 , she sang Czech folk songs at several charity concerts, with Jan Masaryk accompanying her on the piano. Guest tours took her to Buenos Aires in 1942 and to Rio de Janeiro in 1943 . After the end of the war she sang Tatjana in Eugen Onegin at the Prague National Theater in 1946 and made guest appearances in Warsaw, Zagreb, Belgrade, Gothenburg and in 1957 at the Vienna Volksoper .

Novotná married the Czech baron Jiří Daubek in 1933 and had two children. She lived mainly in Vienna until her husband's death in 1981 and then returned to live with her children in New York.

Filmography

• 1925: Vyznavači slunce
• 1930: Fire in the opera
• 1931: The beggar student
• 1932: The Bartered Bride
• 1933: Skřivánčí píseň
• 1933: The night of great love
• 1934: Frasquita
• 1935: The Cossack and the Nightingale
• 1936: La Dernière valse
• 1936: The Last Waltz ( The Last Waltz )
• 1948: The subscribed ( The Search )
• 1951: The Great Caruso ( The Great Caruso )
• 1955: The Great Waltz

Audio samples

• [1] The Magic Flute - Toscanini - Salzburg 1937 - 1st act
• [2] The Magic Flute - Toscanini - Salzburg 1937 - 2nd act

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)

literature

• Kay Less : 'In life, more is taken from you than given ...'. Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. P. 373 f., ACABUS-Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8

Web links

Commons : Jarmila Novotná  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Works by and about Jarmila Novotná in the catalog of the German National Library
• Jarmila Novotna in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Biography with photo
• Pictures by Jarmila Novotná In: Virtual History