Friday, August 24, 2018 at 7:00pm
Bohemian National Hall
321 E 73 St, New York City
A recital of songs by the renowned composers Rudolf Friml (later in Hollywood), Oskar Nedbal, Rudolf Piskácek, Jirí Beneš, Roman Blahník and Jirí Steblický.
Bellissime Vocal Duo
Gabriela Miková Johnson – mezzo soprano
Anna Butkiewicz – soprano
Tána Vanecková – piano
Produced by Moart
Photo by Monika Kosanová-Zaluská
RSVP: newyork@svu2000.org
Free and open to the public.
Suggested donation $15.00
Gabriela Míková Johnson, a graduate of the Janá?ek Conservatory in Ostrava, is a singer, actress, and dancer based in New York. She has twice performed as soprano soloist in Händel’s Messiah for Gordon Stewart’s period-instrument production with the Philipstown Philharmonia. Before moving to the U.S., Gabriela performed many operatic, dramatic, and musical comedy roles in central and western Europe. Her career includes six seasons as featured soloist at Plze?’s J.K. Tyl Theatre (including Euridice in Orpheus in the Underworld, Mable in Pirates of Penzance , Roxie in Chicago, and Aldonza in Man of La Mancha), Bernstein’s Mass with the State Philharmonic of Brno, concerts with both the Janá?ek and the North Bohemian philharmonic orchestras, and three European tours of West Side Story. She teaches singing at the Storm King School in Cornwall, New York, where she has been Adjunct Instructor of Voice since 2013.
Anna Butkiewicz is a classically trained singer living and working in Warsaw, Poland, where she recently performed with Opera Kameralna. She received her Master’s degree from Ostrava University, Czech Republic, and for fifteen seasons was a featured soloist with the National Theatre of Moravian Silesia in Ostrava, where she performed many opera and light-opera roles, including Elisabeth in Land of Smiles by Franz Lehár (for which she received a Thalia Award nomination), Hana Glavari in The Merry Widow, the title role in Giuditta, and Helena in Offenbach’s Beautiful Helena. She has performed concerts with the Janá?ek Philharmonic Orchestra, and has also sung concerts in Japan and Austria. For five years she taught operatic singing at Ostrava’s Janá?ek Conservatory.
Tania Van??ková is a Czech concert pianist living and working in Plze?, Czech
Republic. After graduating from the State Conservatory in Plze?, she joined the J.K. Tyl Theatre as accompanist. There she worked with the opera, light opera, and ballet divisions for twenty seasons. She teaches piano at the School of Arts in Plze?, and regularly performs with the Gala Strauss Orchestra in Austria and Germany.
* “Operetta” refers to a theatrical entertainment that, like opera, tells a story through music, but which unlike most opera treats of light subjects, usually romantic love, and in a comic style (no death or Germanic mythology here!), and whose music may be less sophisticated or complex. In the twentieth century this form gave rise to the American musical.
** https://youtu.be/mCH4Gs8Oaco
For more info, please visit Bellissime@GabrielaAnnaVocalDuo
Program
Rudolf Piská?ek – “Jen jedenkrát”; “Když Máj jde k nám” from Perly Panny Serafinky
Rudolf Friml – “Only a Rose”; “Love for Sale” from Vagabond King
“Indian Love Call”; “L’amour Toujours” from Rose Marie
Jara Beneš – “Já mám dev?t kanár?”; “To ti dám pi pi písemn?” from Uli?nice
R. A. Dvorský – “Slune?nice” from film Hotel Modrá Hv?zda
Jaroslav Ježek – “Kytice”
Josef Stelibský – “Láska brány otevírá” from Ostrov Milování
Oskar Nedbal – “Blondýnky sladké” from Polská Krev
Rudolf Piská?ek – “Ty ?eské Panenky” from Perly Panny Serafinky
Pavel Palecek (1977) earned his Ph.D. in modern history and studied at the University of Vienna, Columbia University of New York and Masaryk University in Brno. He is the author of five history books and several award-winning documentaries on WWII and Cold War history. He is also a founder of the Cold War Museum “10-Z Bunker” in Brno (www.10-Z.cz).
