Dvorak / Podvalova - Complete Recordings 1939-1950 [CD]

For four decades, Marie Podvalová (1909-1992) was one of the most popular and sought-after opera singers of the National Theatre in Prague, where she was engaged from 1937 to 1978. She dazzled in the part of Bedrich Smetana's Libuse, which she created in 1938 under the guidance of the conductor Václav Talich, as well as in the roles of Milada in Dalibor and Anezka in Two Widows. She also appeared in Dvorák operas, performing to acclaim Armida, the Foreign Princess in Rusalka and Julie in The Jacobin, and in Janácek works, primarily excelling as Kostelnicka in Jenufa. Supraphon is for the first time releasing the complete studio recordings Marie Podvalová made between 1939 and 1950. The set encompasses three songs from the collection Venec ze zpevu vlasteneckych (A Garland of Patriotic Songs, 1835-1844), which she performs accompanied on the piano by J. B. Foerster. It contains Marie Podvalová's final, previously unreleased, studio recording, with the soprano singing Beatrice in a scene from Zdenek Fibich's opera The Bride of Messina. The album also captures the voices of Jan Konstantin, Jindrich Blazícek, Marta Krásová, Ivo Zídek, Jaroslav Gleich, Zdenek Otava, Stepánka Jelínková, Jaroslav Jaros, Josef Otakar Masák, Maria Tauberová, Ludek Mandaus, Stanislav Muz, and other singers. The Prague Symphony Orchestra and the National Theatre Orchestra are conducted by Rudolf Vasata, Zdenek Chalabala, Jaroslav Krombholc, Frantisek Skvor, Zdenek Folprecht, Otakar Jeremiás and Karel Nedbal. The release marks the 30th anniversary of the legendary artist's death.