Věra Soukupová (born 12 April 1932) is a Czech

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

. Born in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, Soukupová studied singing at the

Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory () is a public music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, the school offers four- or six-year courses, which can be compared to the level of a high school diploma in other countries. Graduates c ...

and privately with Luis Kadeřábek and A. Mustanová-Linková. She won several competitions, including the international singing competition in Prague (1954), the international singing competition in Toulouse (1958), the competition at the

Prague Spring Festival The Prague Spring International Music Festival (, commonly , Prague Spring) is a classical music festival held every year in Prague, Czech Republic, with symphony orchestras and chamber music ensembles from around the world. The first festival ...

(1960), and the international singing competition in Rio de Janeiro (1963). She began her performance career as a concert singer in 1955 and in 1957 made her stage debut at the Divadlo Josefa Kajetána Tyla in

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

. In 1960 Soukupová became a principal artist at the National Theatre in Prague which has remained her principal home.

References

1932 births Living people 20th-century Czech women opera singers Czech operatic mezzo-sopranos Prague Conservatory alumni {{CzechRepublic-opera-singer-stub