Famous Czech opera singer Soňa Červená dies aged 97

Acclaimed Czech mezzosopranist Soňa Červená has died at the age of 97, Czech Television reported on Monday citing representatives of the National Theatre in Prague.

Born in 1925, Červená dated the start of her career back to the times of the so-called interwar avant-garde Prague Free Theatre (Osvobozené divadlo) period, during which she performed alongside the famous dramatists Jiří Voskovec and Jan Werich. She would go on to perform with famous actors such as the comic Vlasta Burian before becoming an opera singer in Brno and then performing at the National Theatre in Prague during the 1950s. Červená’s family was persecuted by both the Nazis and the Communists. She emigrated to Berlin in 1958 and would go on to work as a performer at the Berlin State Opera and the opera house in Frankfurt until the 1990s. She would also perform regularly in the United States.

Červená received Czechia’s prestigious Thalia Award in 2004 and performed at the National Theatre in Prague as late as 2010, when she was in her mid-80s.