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Prague State Opera Ensemble Triumphs in Japan

The Prague State Opera ensemble recently returned to its home turf from an exceptionally successful Japanese tour. This autumn marked already the ninth visit paid by the State Opera to Japan, this time out bringing a new production of Verdi’s Aida, staged by Massimo Gasparón. In the course of the four-week tour, from October 19 through November 15, 2009, the PSO visitors made eighteen appearances in fifteen cities (Tokyo, Fuchu, Omiya, Yokosuka, Musashino, Toyama, Ina, Sasebo, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, Mito, Obihiro, Sapporo, and Nerima). All of the tour venues, including halls seating 2 700, were hopelessly sold out, including Tokyo’s famed Bunka Kaikan, where the Prague State Opera has appeared four times during this year alone.

The performances were conducted by Giorgio Croci, plus a special guest of the organizing agency, Konzerthaus Japan, the acclaimed Japanese woman conductor, Tomomi Nishimoto. Alternating in the title role were Anda-Louise Bogza and Jitka Svobodová, the rest of the cast included Efe Kişlali and Gianluca Zampieri (Radames); Galia Ibragimova, Daniela Diakova and Jolana Forgašová (Amneris); Miguelangelo Cavalcanti and Jakub Kettner (Amonasro); Oleg Korotkov and Miloš Horák (Ramphis); Lukáš Hynek-Krämer (King); Dagmar Vaňkátová and Lubomíra Popova-Alabozova (Priestess); and Jiří Hruška (Messenger). Several showings featured, as guests of the Japanese agency, sopranos Michèle Crider and Dimitra Theodossiou (in the title part), and tenor Mario Malagnini (Radames).

The Japanese audiences, forthcoming and receptive, rewarded the Prague State Opera ensemble by copious attendance of all its performances. The atmosphere in Japan’s huge concert halls was fascinating, with bursts of applause for the soloists in the course of each night. Many of the visitors have already been Prague State Opera fans for many seasons, invariably looking forward to its visits, and more than a few of them not hesitating to travel along with the company to repeat their experience away from their home cities.

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Prague State Opera Ensemble Triumphs in Japan Prague State Opera Ensemble Triumphs in Japan Prague State Opera Ensemble Triumphs in Japan Prague State Opera Ensemble Triumphs in Japan
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The Prague State Opera - Theatre History in Pictures and Dates - Book cover
The Prague State Opera – Theatre History in Pictures and Dates
Tomáš Vrbka
The Prague State Opera in cooperation with the Slovart publishing house publishes a representative book tracking the history of this significant cultural institution since its opening in 1888 till the end of the 2002/2003 season. The publication called The Prague State Opera – Theatre History in Pictures and Dates is focusing solely on the opera featured at the scene, even though the theatre under various names also served to presentation of drama plays, operettas and ballet. The Prague State opera plans to publish the volumes concentrating on those genres in the next years.

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