Interview with the chamber singer Ludmila Dvořáková

Ludmila Dvořáková, from 1960 to 1985 a world-renowned dramatic soprano, talked to Supraphon on the occasion of the first-ever CD release of her landmark recordings (SU 4137-2). The Orchestra of Prague’s National Theatre was conducted by her husband Rudolf Vaąata.

Do you remember making the recordings featured on the new CD?
I even remember some non-essential details: how I took the tram, how I couldn’t find the Domovina studio and arrived at the session ten minutes late, which had never happened to me previously. My husband and I thoroughly prepared the repertoire, which was nothing new to me since I had all the roles deep-seated within me from numerous stage performances. But I never liked recording, since I felt confined by the fixed position of the microphone and the small space, within which no scene could be vocally and expressively developed as fully as on stage.



Your voice predetermined you for Wagner, yet the CD also contains three Smetana scenes. Did you encounter Czech music around the world?
At the time, Czech operas were scarcely staged beyond Czechoslovakia. At home, I explored and sang, I guess, thirteen Czech roles, whereas in Berlin I only created the Foreign Princess in Rusalka. Now and then, I was given the opportunity to perform songs – Smetana’s in Berlin, Martinů’s and Janáček’s in Paris, Smetana’s and Dvořák’s in Washington and Dvořák’s Biblical Songs with the London Philharmonic in London. Apart from that, I only sang Kostelnička, first in Geneva in Czech, then in Hanover, Stuttgart and Vienna in German, and in the meantime, once in Brno, again in Czech.

For six seasons, you were engaged for challenging Wagner roles in Bayreuth, which no other Czech artist had the chance to do...
I was invited to Bayreuth by Wieland Wagner, the composer’s grandson. The festival theatre was designed by Richard Wagner himself and he succeeded perfectly: the orchestra plays beneath the stage, and every voice resounds there fabulously. The main thing, however, is that in Bayreuth you have a long time for preparation, there are daily rehearsals over a month, the soloists are surrounded by Wagner’s music from morning till night, with instrumental music and songs being heard from every window. The milieu is perfect for concentrated study. I was engaged for the roles of Venus, Gutrune and Brünnhilde in Die Walküre and Siegfried, and Ortrude and Kundry.

When you were invited to the Metropolitan Opera in New York, you were afforded the opportunity to appear at both the historical and the new building...
In the original theatre, I only sang Fidelio in the first season, but I sat in the dressing room in which Ema Destinnová had a memorial plaque. It was an amazing experience. The new building is totally different; there I sang Isolde, Ortrude, Senta and Chrysothemis. Compared to the old building, the comfort is much greater, the space is much larger, and the acoustics brilliant. But the history cannot be repeated.