Kát'a Kabanová's production: a memorable start to the Janáček Brno Festival 2016
09. 10. 2016 | Jan Špaček
The entire evening was actually a showcase of alternately great, successful and wonderful things. However, I consider two moments to be the most important. One was the unbeatable performance of Pavla Vykopalová in the title role.
Janáček Festival Brno: Expectations drowned in water
08. 10. 2016 | Vladimíra Kmečová
This is not the first time that Pavla Vykopalová has encountered the character of Káťa. She creates her as a personality who is fulfilled in love and in nature, but who is destroyed and ruined by the hypocritical and retrograde society represented by Kabanicha and Dikoj. Pavla Vykopalová add a bit more of a rebel to her creation than a fragile lyric being, but in the final impression her character comes across as feminine and compassionate. She has an excellent voice for the role, her soprano is resonant in the high notes, always with clear diction, even in a scene as delicate for the comprehensibility of the text as the one with Varvara. After Míla and Jenůfa, this is Vykopalová's next excellent Janáček role among those for which she is (currently) vocally built.
More at https://operaslovakia.sk/festival-janacek-brno-ocakavania-utopene-vo-vode
Carmen from Brno closed a series of operas at this year's Litomyšl Festival
03. 07. 2016 | Jiří Fuchs
Among the evening's personalities, Pavla Vykopalová's interpretation of Micaëla was one of the best performances. Singing, acting and expression. Bravo! I just don't understand why it is necessary in the actual programme to include that she is supposedly singing to "enable" the performance in place of an ill performer... The magic of the unwanted? A beautiful performance, the likes of which we don't see very often. Just more "understudies" like this...
More at https://operaplus.cz/carmen-z-brna-uzavrela-serii-oper-na-letosni-smetanove-litomysli/
Soprano Pavla Vykopalová
14. 04. 2016 | Telefonotéka, Český rozhlas Vltava
Soprano Pavla Vykopalová's repertoire ranges from Baroque to Romantic opera, and includes oratorios, cantatas and songs of various styles up to 20th century music.
More at https://vltava.rozhlas.cz/pavla-vykopalova-sopranistka-5017842
Naivist, girly and lively The Kiss
06. 12. 2015 | Jan Špaček
Pavla Vykopalová (Vendulka) is perhaps the most veracious and vocally best disposed of Smetana's lovesick girl at the moment, eschewing expressive stage gestures for a simple, lyrical and technically exemplary recitation.
More at http://www.mestohudby.cz/publicistika/kritika/naivisticka-divci-a-ziva-hubicka
Magazine "Hudební rozhledy" No. 11/2015 - Jenůfa celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Janáček Theatre
01. 11. 2015 | Karla Hofmannová
At the first performance, Pavla Vykopalová was introduced in the role of Jenůfa. She sang the role with professional assurance and the juiciness and carrying power of her voluminous and radiant soprano, the ability of a touching pianissimo and the fervour of a prayer. The beautiful Moravian "blood and milk" maiden undergoes an elaborate acting development as she leads her character through depression and despair to aging and wisdom.
Opera singer Pavla Vykopalová
15. 10. 2014 | Telefonotéka, Český rozhlas Vltava
The guest of Telefonotéka was the opera singer Pavla Vykopalová.
More at https://vltava.rozhlas.cz/operni-pevkyne-pavla-vykopalova-5016441
Káťa Kabanová. Short return and unnecessary leaving
03. 06. 2014 | Boris Klepal
The title role of Káťa was lived out by Pavla Vykopalová. To simply only talk about her singing seems too little to me, although even in the tensest moments she never lost control of herself. It was a riveting performance, I expected a lot and got even more.
More at http://www.mestohudby.cz/publicistika/kritika/kata-kabanova-kratky-navrat-a-zbytecny-odchod
Concert Hall Dortmund: "Rusalka" Concert
16. 05. 2014 | Sigi Brockmann
The fact that she is the only character to have a name is evidence of the importance of the title role, and Pavla Vykopalová sang Rusalka perfectly in all the nuances and aspects of her voice. Brilliant legato arcs to the highest notes overshadowed the orchestra without sharpness, her p-culture was exemplary. It was not only the opera's most popular "Song to the Moon" from the first act, that made an impression, but perhaps even more so her heartfelt aria "Insensible Water Power" at the beginning of the third act, in which she laments that she no longer belongs to either humans or water creatures.
More at https://onlinemerker.com/dortmund-konzerthaus-rusalka-konzertant/
Antonín Dvořák ran a marathon in Ostrava
05. 05. 2014 | Vlastimil Cupák, Veronika Vejvodová
The highlight of the evening was soprano Pavla Vykopalová. Her expression is understated, her intonation flawless in all positions. Her voice carried beautifully through the hall. We know her as an excellent opera singer, but here she took her musical intelligence to an even higher level. It is not without reason that we say that a good singer is best known for her interpretation of songs. Pavla Vykopalova is proof of this - the organisers knew who to choose.
More at https://operaplus.cz/antonin-dvorak-bezel-v-ostrave-maraton
Pavla Vykopalová: I ran away from Rusalka when I was six years old
24. 03. 2014 | Boris Klepal
We met with soprano Pavla Vykopalová ten days before the premiere of the operetta Polish Blood at the Janáček Theatre. We not only talked about this, but also about operetta in general. And, of course, about opera, her favourite music and her childhood at the Karlin Musical Theatre.
Eliahu Inbal Finale
10. 06. 2012 | Frank Kuznik
The evening started on a calmer note with a deft rendering of Ravel’s Scheherazade song cycle. Full-bodied yet beautifully transparent, the piece was an engaging showcase for singer Pavla Vykopalová, with Inbal layering subtle shadings and warm tones to complement her dusky soprano. A regular on the National Theater and State opera stages, Vykopalová has a rich, round voice with no sharp edges, even in the upper registers, that drew generous applause from the musicians as well. Vykopalová was also the beneficiary of a perfect balance that Inbal struck between the singer and the orchestra; not once was her voice overwhelmed by the music. That’s difficult to achieve, and a reminder of Inbal’s high professional standards and skills. Watching him some nights over the past few years has been like attending a clinic in how to conduct a symphony orchestra.
More at http://pragueculture.blogspot.com/2012/06/eliahu-inbal-finale.html
How the dog and the cat cooked Rusalka
28. 05. 2012 | Ondřej Šupka
However, the greatest experience of the evening was the excellent singing and acting abilities of Pavla Vykopalová in the title role. She is clearly the best interpreter of the role on the Czech stage today. Her voice is perfect in all positions, it can be lyrically dreamy and very dramatic, as in the big, vocally demanding scene in the second act ("O, useless, useless, useless it is"), which brings Vykopalová close to the legendary interpretation of Milada Šubrtová. It is clear that she has studied the role of Rusalka very carefully, working with mastery on individual details, but at the same time she is able to keep the whole in mind, which was particularly evident in her perfectly constructed phrases and impressively arched melodic arcs. The performer has exemplary diction, so that the resulting clarity of the sung words that are virtually perfect.
More at https://operaplus.cz/jak-pejsek-s-kocickou-varili-rusalku
Rusalka in Brno by Vladimír Morávek
01. 04. 2012 | Karla Hofmannová
The star of the evening was Pavla Vykopalová in the role of Rusalka. Her voice was touching and round, sonorous even in the pianissimos, firm in pitch, with an inward expression. She also has a subtle and charming appearance.
More at http://hudebnirozhledy.scena.cz/www/index.php?page=clanek&cislo_id=128&id_clanku=1949
Rusalka - the poetry of music and stage
27. 02. 2012 | Boris Klepal
Pavla Vykopalová was a lyrical, fragile, touching and unsentimental Rusalka, her performance was fantastic from beginning to end. Think of any superlative and you probably won't be wrong. She was perfectly comprehensible even in the tensest passages, just like Jiří Sulženko.
More at http://zapisnikzmizeleho.cz/rusalka-poezie-hudby-a-jeviste
Pavla Vykopalová: Panty roles started to bother me
22. 02. 2010 | Redakce OperaPlus.cz
She is one of our most frequently cast sopranos, both at the National Theatre in Prague and at the Brno Opera. Smetana's Mařenka, Dvořák's Rusalka, Mozart's Fiordiligi, Donna Elvira, the Countess, Pamina or Vitellia, Rossini's Rosina, Leoncavallo's Nedda, Puccini's Mimi and Lauretta, Martinů's Juliette and Sister Pascalina, Rosalinda from Strauss's The Bat. Pavla Vykopalová goes from role to role, and critics are usually effusive in their praise. Her numerous concert appearances have been successful, and her international performances have also been very well received.
More at https://operaplus.cz/pavla-vykopalova-kalhotkove-role-mne-zacaly-vadit
Magazine "Literární noviny" - Jump, bear, the devil is coming for you
10. 04. 2006 | Boris Klepal
The real gem of the performance, however, was Pavla Vykopalová in the role of Mařenka. Until recently a mezzo-soprano, she seems to have made a definite switch to soprano, and she fulfilled her role perfectly. Her voice is where it should be, even the finest pianissimos are carried beautifully, she excels in intonation, rhythmically and expressively, to which we must add that she looks very good. This is a really young, fresh Mařenka who is worth a little of trickery and effort.
