Jana Jonášová

Jana Jonášová (born April 1943) is a Czech opera singer. One of the most important Czech coloratura sopranos of her generation, she has had an active international career at the world's major opera houses and concert stages for roughly four decades. As an opera singer she performed a varied repertoire from a variety of musical periods and in many languages. She drew particular acclaim for her portrayal of Mozart heroines and roles from the standard Czech repertory. In 1970 she joined the National Theatre in Prague where she was a member for more than three decades.

As a concert singer, Jonášová assailed an equally diverse repertoire but is chiefly remembered for performances of works by baroque composers like Johann Sebastian Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Georg Friedrich Handel, Georg Philipp Telemann, and Antonio Vivaldi. Her voice is preserved on a number of concert, opera, and solo recordings made with the Supraphon and ORFEO labels among others. Although she still occasionally performs in concert, she retired from the opera stage in the early 2000s. She is currently on the voice faculty at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

Born in Plzeň, Jonášová studied singing at the Prague Conservatory with Bendlová and then at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague with Teodor Šrubař. She made her professional opera debut in 1965 at the Liberec Theatre as Konstanze in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio. That same year she became involved with the Chamber Opera Prague. She remained committed to the Liberec Theatre through 1970 and then joined the National Theatre in Prague where she initially sang minor roles and worked in the opera chorus.

...
Wikipedia