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CERVENA

By Olga SOMMEROVÁ

FILM KOLEKTIV - as PROD

Documentary - Completed 2017

- Year of production
- 2017
- Genres
- Documentary
- Countries
- CZECH REPUBLIC, SLOVAKIA
- Languages
- CZECH
- Duration
- 80 mn
- Director(s)
- Olga SOMMEROVÁ
- Writer(s)
- Olga SOMMEROVÁ
- Cast
- Soňa ČERVENÁ
- Producer(s)
- Pavel BERČÍK (Evolution Films)
- Synopsis
- Olga Sommerová’s feature-length documentary about the world-famous opera singer and actress Soňa Červená is the story of a woman whose humble history, private and public life was influenced by the great events of 20th century Europe. Červená’s artistic career includes a hundred opera roles in five thousand performances on the stages of six continents.
  Tragedy struck her family after the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, with the Gestapo sending Soňa’s father to Terezín and her mother to the Ravensbrück concentration camp. Following the communist coup, Soňa’s mother was arrested and sent to Pankrác prison where she died after three days.
  In 1958, Soňa accepted an invitation from the State Opera in Berlin, where she was offered a permanent engagement after a single performance. Soňa’s virtue was the captivating timbre of her voice, her impeccable preparation, unconditional devotion to the stage and unfailing execution. In 1962, she decided to cross the Berlin Wall to freedom.
  Soňa Červená first performed Carmen in San Francisco, side by side with the renowned Mario del Monaco. Audiences in the greatest opera houses of the world would see her in this renowned role 156 times.
  She performed in Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle and Chicago, in opera houses from Palermo and Rome to Rouen and in Glyndebourne, where she joined Luciano Pavarotti on the stage. In Frankfurt she even worked with Plácido Domingo. Červená sang in the Scala in Milan, the opera in Paris, 11 seasons in the opera in San Francisco and appeared at the Bayreuth Festival seven times.
  She has collaborated with directors Walter Felsenstein and Wieland Wagner, and with conductors Herbert von Karajan and Rafael Kubelík.
  Wrapping up a career of forty years in the opera, Soňa Červená joined up with American director Robert Wilson in the prestigious Thalia theatre in Hamburg to perform in musicals by Tom Waits and Lou Reed. After returning to her homeland at the age of 77, she began her second Czech career, having performed so far five operas in the National Theatre.
  Not only her worldwide artistic career but her moral integrity makes Soňa Červená a great woman of the Czech nation.