First he studied singing at the Conservatoire
Pivoda in Prague , then in Milan under G. Binettiho. In 1911 he made
his deubt at the National Theatre in Prague
and remained up to the end of his career a member of this opera house. In 1914
he had a sensational success as Gremin in Tchaikovsky’s ‘’Eugene Onegin’’ and from
this performance up to his retirement from the stage in 1947, he was one of the
most significant Czech singers of his epoch, equally prominent in the Czech,
Russian, Italian and German repertoire. On 23. 4. 1920 he appeared at the National Theatre in
the premiere of Leoš Janáček’s opera
‘’Výlety pana Broučka’’.
Guest performances with significant success brought him also abroad: In 1926 he
appeared at the Teatro Regio of Turin .
In the 1928-29 season he sang at Berlin . In 1933 he
performed in Moscow and St. Petersburg . Arturo Toscanini engaged him for
the Teatro alla Scala. Here he sang in the 1926-27 season the roles of Fasolt
and Hunding in Wagner’s ‘’Nibelungenring’’, from 1929 to 1931 he appeared as
Gessler in ‘’Guglielmo Tell’’ of Rossini, the Commendatore in Mozart’s ‘’Don Giovanni’’,
the Fafner and Hunding. In 1928 he made guest appearances at Paris under Bruno Walter singing the Mozart's
parts. In 1936 he again appeared at the Grand Opéra as Commendatore in Mozart’s
‘’Don Giovanni’’. In 1946 he became the National Artist and at this time he counted as the
biggest living Czech singer. He made 6 records for Parlophon (1927).
Chronology of some appearances
1914 Prague National Theatre Eugene Onegin
(Gremin)
1920 Prague National Theatre Výlety pana Broučka (-)
1927 Milano Teatro alla Scala Don Giovanni (Commendatore)
1936 Paris
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Zitek also created the role of Adam in a new one-act opera 'Před východem slunce' (composed by Emil F. Burian, libretto by Bedrich Belohlavek). The premiere was held on the 24th October, 1925, at the National Theatre in Prague. It was the only one of Burian's several operas to be premiered there. The role of Eva was taken by soprano Gabriela Horvatova who had, a few years earlier, had a torrid affair with the composer Leos Janacek, and been the cause of his wife's attempted suicide.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your interesting comment
DeleteA pleasure. My father was the librettist. He was also music critic for Rude Pravo, a prominent Czech newspaper.
DeleteHe wrote about opera singers too?
DeleteHe was I think the first to do a radio feature on Emmy Destinn (for BBC Radio 3 in about 1980.) The quality of available recordings rather let the whole thing down, but the script was hugely entertaining.
DeleteYou can see a bit more about him on my blog at:
www.franciswright.wordpress.com
Thank you, I will add the link of your blog in my links' section.
DeleteAll the best
Ashot
Thank you very much!
DeleteAn update for you: I have been researching 'Pred Vychodem Slunce' a bit more. It turns out that Vilem Zitek never sang the role of Adam. He had to withdraw from the production (I think for health reasons) and Adam was sung for all performances by Emil Burian (the composer's father.) The original poster for the opera is correct, but the published text of the libretto credits Zitek as Adam. My apologies for this error. But it all adds to the story!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for your interesting information
DeleteAll the best
Ashot