Czech Center New York, in collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the National Museum in Prague, has opened an exhibition focusing on singers with Czech roots who performed at the Met Opera during their careers. The exhibition was opened by Michal Lukeš, director of the National Museum in Prague, and speeches were also given by Regina Schuster, principal costume draper, and Victor Callegari, former chief make-up artist at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The evening was rounded off by video interviews with contemporary Czech singers and musical performances by singer Eliška Weissová and pianist David Kalhous.
The exhibition presents unique costumes by Maria Jeritza and Jarmila Novotná from the Metropolitan Opera Archives, but also, quite extraordinarily, costumes by Emma Destinn from the collections of the National Museum. The curator of the exhibition is Mgr. Veronika Vejvodová, Ph.D., head of the Antonín Dvořák Museum - National Museum in Prague. You can visit the exhibition with her expert interpretation in two dates in June.
Accompanying program of the exhibition
Tuesday May 28 at 5:30 PM – Guided tour with Miroslav Konvalina, director of CC NY
Wednesday May 29 at 6:30 PM – Guided tour with Miroslav Konvalina, director of CC NY
Sunday June 16 at 4:00 PM – Guided tour with Dr. Veronika Vejvodová Registration here.
Tuesday June 18 at 7:00 PM – Favorite Songs and Arias of Czech Prima Donnas: A Narrated Concert Registration here.
(Ada Bílková, Lucie Laubová – voice, Isabel Keleti – piano, and commentary by Dr. Veronika Vejvodová)
Wednesday June 19 at 6:00 PM – Guided tour with Dr. Veronika Vejvodová Registration here.
Photo credit © Bruce C. T. Bybee
