Passionate Carmen: Opera, Ballet
An iconic story of love and unbridled passion, presented by opera stars – Ester Pavlů, Joseph Calleja and Svatopluk Sem – and ballet personalities of the Rome Opera, choreographed by Jiří Bubeníček.
Artists
Ester Pavlů – mezzo-soprano
Joseph Calleja – tenor
Svatopluk Sem – baritone
Jiří Bubeníček – choreography
Les Ballets Bubeníček – soloists of the Rome Opera Ballet
Tomas Brauner – conductor
Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
Program
George Bizet: Carmen – selections from the opera
With support of
Ester Pavlů
Ester Pavlová, one of the most promising singers and mezzo-sopranos of the younger generation, studied at the HAMU with Helena Kaupová and has performed on the most important national and international stages. At the Prague National Theatre Opera and the Prague State Opera, she sang the title role in Bizet’s Carmen, Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, the Queen in Švanda the Piper and the Foreign Princess in Dvořák’s Rusalka. She has mainly performed abroad: she toured the United Kingdom and the United States, made her debut in Basel as Santuzza, in Riga as Eboli in Don Carlos, at the National Theatre in Sofia in the title role of Rossini’s Cinderella and also made her debut in Vienna this season at the Theater an dem Wien as the Ice Queen in Švanda’s Bagpipes. She has worked with leading ensembles and conductors such as J. Bělohlávek, P. Inkinen, D. G. Carreras, P. Popelka, F. Chaslin, J. Cura, A. Jurkevyč, J. Valčuha and many others.
Joseph Calleja
Tenor Joseph Calleja is often compared to legendary singers such as Jussi Björling, Beniamino Gigli and Enrico Caruso. The Maltese-born singer, who began singing at the age of 16 in a church choir, made his debut on the opera stage at the age of 19, shortly before winning the prize in the Hans Gabor Belvedere competition that launched his international career. In 1998 he won the Caruso in Milan and in 1999, when he made his US debut at the Spoleto Festival, he won an award in Plácido Domingo’s Operalia. Since then, he has performed with world opera companies. He is regularly invited to the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Los Angeles Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Covent Garden in London, Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, etc. One of the most sought-after tenors on both sides of the Atlantic, he has sung at least 28 major operatic roles. Joseph Calleja is one of the biggest celebrities of his native country. In 2012, he became Malta’s first Cultural Ambassador and was also appointed Air Malta’s Brand Ambassador. In 2013, he set up a foundation to help children and families in need.
Svatopluk Sem
Baritone Svatopluk Sem studied at the České Budějovice Conservatory. He then joined the South Bohemian Theatre as an opera soloist and since 2022 he has been permanently engaged at the National Theatre in Prague. He is a regular guest at almost all opera houses in the Czech Republic. He has toured Japan with the Prague State Opera with a production of La traviata in the role of Germont. For this role he won the Thalia Award. He has appeared at the prestigious BBC Proms Festival at the Royal Albert Hall in London, collaborated with the National Theatre in Brno, the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre in Ostrava, the J. K. Tyl Theatre in Pilsen and has also performed at the Teatro Regio di Torino in Italy. He has been a guest and performer in Denmark, South Korea, China, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Italy, Great Britain and the USA, accompanied by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra Zlín, Prague Philharmonia, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Houston Philharmonic and BBC Symphony Orchestra, where he was a regular guest.
Jiří Bubeníček
World-renowned choreographer Jiří Bubeníček was the first soloist of the Hamburg State Ballet and the Semper Opera in Dresden. He has guest-starred on prestigious stages around the world, including the Paris Opera, where he excelled as Armand in Neumeier’s ballet The Lady with the Camellias. He won the “Oscar of dance” – the Benois de la Danse award. Since 1999 he has been choreographing and has created works for ballet companies in New York, San Francisco, Milan, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna, Hamburg, Dortmund and many other theatres. His oeuvre includes more than 75 choreographic works, ranging from dance miniatures to full-length ballets. Among the best known are Cyrano de Bergerac, Anita Berber – Queen of the Night, La Strada, Doctor Zhivago, The Piano, Kafka’s Trial, Spartacus, My Country, Rusalka, Orpheus and Cinderella. He won the Europa in Danza Award for Carmen and the prestigious Boris Papandopoulos Award for Best Ballet Performance of the 2021/22 season for Romeo and Juliet. He is the founder of Les Ballets Bubeníček and holds a Master’s degree in Dance Pedagogy from the prestigious Palucca University of Dance in Dresden. He contributed to the development of dance education by founding Bubeníček Ballet Masterclasses. For his artistic achievements and contributions he has received the Gratias Agit Award and the Silver Medal of the City of Prague.
Tomáš Brauner
Chief Conductor of the Capital City Symphony Orchestra and from the 2024/2025 season also chief conductor of the Slovak National Theatre Opera in Bratislava graduated in oboe and conducting at the State Conservatory in Prague and in conducting at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts. He regularly collaborates with the Czech Philharmonic, Prague Philharmonia, Müncher Symphoniker, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie and many others. He is also an opera conductor and at the State Opera, the National Theatre and the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre he has conducted Puccini’s La Bohème and Tosca, Verdi’s Otello, Nabucco and Traviata, Bizet’s Carmen and many others. He is a frequent guest of international music festivals such as Bad Kissingen and the Richard Strauss Festival in Garmisch Parten-Kirchen, and in 2022 he made his debut in the Elbe Philharmonic in Hamburg.
Prague Philharmonia
Prague Philharmonia was founded in 1994 on the initiative of the world-famous conductor Jiří Bělohlávek under the original name of the Prague Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. In the 30 years of its existence, the orchestra has earned recognition throughout the music world thanks to its international tours, but also thanks to its internationally acclaimed albums and recordings. Prague Philharmonia is praised for its unique sound, but also for its repertoire, which is mainly focused on the works of Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Jakub Hrůša, Julian Rachlin, Martha Argerich, Jefim Bronfman, András Schiff, Gil Shaham, Isabelle Faust, Emmanuel Pahud, Luciano Pavarotti, Diana Damrau, Plácido Domingo, Gautier Capuçon, Maxim Vengerov, Mischa Maisky, Juan Diego Flórez, Jonas Kaufmann and many others have performed with the orchestra.
The Prague Philharmonia performs with the long-term support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.
