Yvona Škvárová

Biography

Yvona Škvárová had her first engagement at the J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň. In 1987, she debuted at the National Theatre and in the next year received a permanent contract. She has performed, among other roles, Dorabella (Mozart: Così fan tutte), Maddalena (Verdi: Rigoletto), Pollina and Daphnis (Tchaikovsky: The Queen of Spades) and Betty Doxy (Britten: The Beggar’s Opera). Following the division of the Prague opera houses, she became a member of the Prague State Opera, where she was one of the principal soloists. She appeared in the lead roles in Rossini’s operas L’Italiana in Algieri and Il barbiere di Siviglia, and also as Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Laura (Ponchielli: La Gioconda), Verdi’s Fenena (Nabucco) and Eboli (Don Carlos), Thomas’s Mignon, Bizet’s Carmen, Klara (Prokofiev: Betrothal in a Monastery), Marina (Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov). Extensive too are her activities abroad. In Regensburg, Germany, she sang the role of Octavian (R. Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier), on several occasions she performed as a guest in L’Italiana in Algieri in Cologne and in Austria as Waltraute (Wagner: Die Walküre). Furthermore, she appeared as a guest in Dublin and Nancy, and received rapturous applause in Taiwan and Japan. Since 1999 she has again been a member of the National Theatre. The most noteworthy roles she has created here are: Kostelnička (Janáček: Jenůfa), Dvořák’s Witch (Rusalka) and the Princess (The Devil and Kate), Mrs. Quickly (Verdi: Falstaff), Principessa di Boullion (Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur), Contessa di Coigny (Giordano: Andrea Chénier) and Waltraute in Die Walküre, and Herodias in the concert performance of Strauss’ Salome. For Brangäne (Wagner: Tristan und Isolde) she won the prize of the Opera 2001 festival for the best supporting role and was nominated for the prestigious Thalia Award. She received the 2003 Thalia Award for the role of Marylin Klinghoffer in John Adams’The Death of Klinghoffer. She has earned fame as an outstanding performer in concert as well.