Curriculum Vitae

Pavla Vykopalová graduated from the State Academy of Music in Prague in 1993. However, even during her studies she collaborated with the Mozart Opera. Shortly after her graduation she joined the Pilsen Opera Company, singing among other parts the title role in Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas.

Trained as a mezzo-soprano by Professor Jiří Kotouč, she worked hard to improve her singing, and in 2006 Pavla smoothly switched to soprano roles. She is currently being coached and supervised by Professor Marie Urbanová.

Pavla's repertoire reaches from Baroque to Romantic opera roles, covering also oratorios, cantatas and even songs across various music styles up to contemporary music of the 21st century.

Since 1999 she has been a regular guest of the National Theatre in Prague singing leading roles in almost all of Mozart's operas there, including Zerlina, Donna Elvira, Pamina, Fiordiligi, Vitellia and the Countess Almaviva, also performing the roles of Mařenka in Smetana's opera The Bartered Bride, Sister Paskalina in Martinů's The Miracles of Mary, Antonia in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann and in Janáček's opera Jenufa.

In 2003 she made her successful debut as Karolka in Janáček's opera Jenufa at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

As a regular guest of the Prague State Opera, Pavla has starred in the roles of Beatrice in Berlioz's opera Beatrice et Benedict, Rosina in Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville, Pamina in Mozart's The Magic Flute, the title roles in Dvořák's Rusalka, Desdemona in Verdi's opera Otello, Liù in Puccini's Turandot, and Mimi in Puccini's La bohème.

In January 2009 she joined the National Theatre of Brno as a regular soloist, starring there as Mařenka in Smetana's opera The Bartered Bride staged by Ondřej Havelka. Especially for this role she was nominated for the prestigious theatrical award Thalia 2006.

Pavla has also performed Lauretta in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, Nedda in Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci, the title role in Martinů's Juliette, Liù in Puccini's Turandot, Micaela in Bizet's Carmen, the title role in Dvořák's Rusalka, Janáček's Jenufa, Míla in Janáček's Fate, Káťa in Janáček's Káťa Kabanová, Vendulka in Smetana's The Kiss, Rosalinda in Strauss's The Bat, Clémence in Saariaho's Love at a Distance, Sister Paskalina in Martinů's The Miracles of Mary, Mimi in Puccini's La bohème, Antonia in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann, and Katerina in Martinů's The Greek Passion.

Her concert activity at home and abroad is also extensive, including sacred works and songs. In numerous concerts and opera performances, she has collaborated with world-famous Czech and foreign conductors, such as Jiří Bělohlávek, Jiří Kout, Eliahu Inbal, Iván Fischer, Jakub Hrůša, Kaspar Zehnder, Sylvain Cambreling, Leopold Hager, and Asher Fisch. Pavla has sung on the concert stages with Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra.

In June 2012, accompanied by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Pavla performed the song cycle Shéhérazade by Maurice Ravel and sang the soprano solo in Leonard Bernstein's Kaddish Symphony under the conductor Eliahu Inbala. She also gave a recital of Samuel Pisar. In 2014, still with the same cast, she gave a repeat performance of the soprano solo in Kaddish at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, and in 2016 she performed at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

In autumn 2011, she mastered with great success the role of Jenufa done by three French theatres: Rennes, Limoges and Reims. In 2012 she was nominated for the Thalia award for the title role of Míla in Janáček's Fate. In autumn 2013, she mastered the title role in Janáček's opera Káťa Kabanová at the Danish National Opera. In May 2014, Pavla took part in a concert tour with conductor Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, starring in the title role of Dvořák's Rusalka.

In October 2016 at the National Theatre of Brno, Pavla mastered the title role of Káťa Kabanová under the supervision of the Canadian director Robert Carsen. For this role she was also awarded the Thalia award.

At the National Theatre of Brno, Pavla was given the title role of Clémence in the contemporary opera Love at a Distance, composed by Finnish-French composer Kaija Saariaho. It is an unconventional work of art which was for the first time staged in the Czech Republic.

Furthermore Pavla's activities, regarding developing recordings for various record companies, are quite wide and large. She recorded such pieces as Czech Christmas Mass by J. J. Ryba (Multisonic), Lenore by A. Rejcha (Orfeo), and various compositions for organ and voice by Bedřich Antonín Wiedermann (Rosa). For Supraphon she recorded Miloslav Kabeláč's Symphony No. 5 In B Flat Minor "Drammatica" and another CD with Bohuslav Martinů's "Cantatas".

In December 2018, she studied the title role in Janáček's opera Káťa Kabanová at the Metropolitan Teatro di San Carlo. It was produced by Juraj Valčuha and staged by Willy Decker.

Since 2022 on the occasion of the French-Czech co-production she has been performing the part of Alcina (G. F. Händel – Alcina) with the Collegium 1704 orchestra under the conductor Václav Luks at the National theatre in Brno.