Biography:

Miroslav Švejda ( 7 December 1939 Brno – 20 April 2024 [1] ) was a Czech opera singer ( tenor ).

Life and work

He received the basics of musical education in his family, but he graduated as a civil engineer and during his studies he sang in the Moravian Singing Association, where Josef Veselka was the choirmaster . He improved his singing skills and trained privately with the Brno professor Maria Řezníčková and subsequently with Teodor Šrubára and Zdenka Ziková . He then supplemented his studies with internships with Ettore Campogalliani in Siena , Italy . [2] When he won the audition for the position of soloist of the Prague Philharmonic Choir in 1969 , he again met Josef Veselka , who accepted him and was the choirmaster of the choir. In the same year, he also became a soloist at the opera of the National Theater in Prague for lyrical tenor roles, where he was until 2005 . [3]

On the stage of the National Theater he sang almost all the tenor roles in Smetana’s , Dvořák’s and Janáček’s operas, and in Bohuslav Martinů’s opera he stood out especially as Michel in Julietta and Manolios in the Greek Passion , one of his top roles was Stravinsky’s Oedipus . He also created here, for example, the unforgettable Pinkerton from Madame Butterfly ), Alfred Germont from La traviata , Tamino from The Magic Flute , Count Almaviva the Barber of Seville , Rodolfo from Bohemia , the Drunkard from Lady Macbeth of Mcenské újezd and a number of other characters. [4]

For his speech, he often collaborated with television, where he performed in almost all television productions of Smetana’s operas, radio and record companies. With artistic tours, he was a guest on opera and concert stages abroad, for example in France , Austria , Germany , Italy , Spain , Denmark , Finland , USA , Canada and Japan . [5]

In March 2018, he received the 2017 Thalia Award for Lifetime Achievement in Opera. [6] He was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the National Theater on 24 August 2020 to mark the start of the new 138th season . [7]

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