Jana Sýkorová

Biography

The contralto Jana Sýkorová became a soloist of the Prague State Opera in 1999. Since 2012 she has been a soloist of the National Theatre Opera. She made her debut in 1996 in the historical building as the Orphan in R. Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier and the following year on the stage of the State Opera as La Cieca in Poncchielli's Gioconda.

On the State Opera stage, she has performed the leading roles in Bizet's Carmen, Thomas's Mignon, Vivaldi's Orlando furioso, Petitgirard's Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man and in Viklický's Phaedra and Ploughman and Death (the latter three given their world premieres). Her profile roles also include Verdi's Azucena (Il trovatore) and Fenena (Nabucco), Charlotte in Massenet's Werther, Maddalena (Rigoletto), and Dvořák's Kate (The Devil and Kate) and the Witch (Rusalka). As Carmen, she has appeared in a total of eight different productions. In the French premiere of Joseph Merrick's opera The Elephant Man in Nice in 2002 and the subsequent DVD release, she attracted the attention of international critics. In 2007, she made her successful debut as Maddalena at London's Royal Opera House Covent Garden. She returned to London as Mercedes and a cover of the title role in Carmen. She has also performed abroad in Wales and at opera houses in Berlin, Nice, Dijon and Helsinki.

In concert, her European appearances with conductor Gerd Albrecht are foremost, including a DVD recording of Dvořák's oratorio St. Ludmila, or a performance of Janáček's Glagolitic Mass at Tokyo's Suntory Hall and Mahler's Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3 with Tomáš Netopil and Jakub Hrůša. She has participated in the CD recording of Dvořák's opera The Stubborn Lovers with Jiří Bělohlávek and Dvořák's Requiem, which received the Japanese Tokusen Critics' Prize.

Photo: Jan Šajbidor