Actress and opera singer Soňa Červená died today in Prague at the age of 97. After emigration from totalitarian Czechoslovakia in the 1960s, she sang in world important opera houses. He was in San Francisco for a record 11 seasons. He gave outstanding performances in operas by Richard Wagner and Leoš Janáček. Her most famous role is Carmen. Here he sang on the stages of the world’s leading more than one hundred and fifty times. ČTK was notified of this by National Theater spokesman Tomáš Staněk.

“For us, the fate of outstanding world singers and actresses is a reflection of the fate of Czech culture, whose talents are often used abroad, because they do not have enough freedom at home. The last three decades of Sonia Červená’s career took place already in the free Czech Republic and the free National Theater. He brought the famous American director Robert Wilson to the National Theatre. He also succeeded in producing an opera about the martyred priest Toufar. Soňa is a reminder to us how important it is not only to have talent, but also to have an open society where she is happy,” said Jan Burian, CEO of ND.

Last September 29, shortly after his 97th birthday, Červená performed on the occasion of the presidency of the Czech Republic at the Council of the European Union in the Lateran Basilica in Rome during the Jan Zástěra Svatá Ludmila speech as soloist in the group St. . Ludmila.

In 2004, he received the Thália prize as a special award from the college, in 2011, the Artist Bohemiae Amicis medal from the Minister of Culture, and on 28 October 2013, President Miloš Zeman awarded him the Medal of Merit. On the occasion of her 90th birthday, the then Minister of Culture Daniel Herman (KDU-ČSL) awarded her the title of Lady of Czech Culture in 2015. Apart from singing, Červená also works as an actress. He played the lead role in Čapkov’s Vec Makropulos and the character Dr. Milady Horáková in Březinov Tomorrow will… Viewers also know her as Frau König from the film directed by Jan Hřebejk Pupendo.

Four years ago, Červená received the asteroid naming certificate No. 26897, which is now known as Červená. In January 2019, he received the Prague Classic Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Smetana Hall of the Prague City Building.