Curriculum Vitae

Pavla Vykopalová graduated from the Prague State Academy of Music in 1993. However, even during her studies she collaborated with the Mozart Opera. Shortly after her graduation she joined the Pilsen Opera Company, and among others she sang the title role in Purcell's opera "Dido and Aeneas".

She further improved her singing skills with Professor Jiří Kotouč in the field of mezzo-soprano. In 2006, she smoothly switched to soprano and continued her private lessons with Professor Marie Urbanová.

Pavla's repertoire reaches from Baroque to Romantic opera roles, also covering oratorios, cantatas and even songs across various music styles including contemporary 21st century music.

Since 1999 she has been a regular guest at the Prague National Theatre in singing leading roles in almost all of Mozart's operas there, including Zerlina, Donna Elvira, Pamina, Fiordiligi, Vitellia and the Countess Almaviva, also performing the roles of Mařenka in Smetana's opera "The Bartered Bride", Sister Paskalina in Martinů's "The Miracles of Mary", Antonia in Offenbach's "The Tales of Hoffmann" and in Janáček's opera "Jenufa".

In 2003 she made her successful debut as Karolka in Janáček's opera "Jenufa" at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

As a regular guest at the Prague State Opera, Pavla has starred in the roles of Beatrice in Berlioz's opera "Beatrice et Benedict", Rosina in Rossini's opera "The Barber of Seville", Pamina in Mozart's "The Magic Flute", the title roles in Dvořák's "Rusalka", Desdemona in Verdi's opera "Otello", Liù in Puccini's "Turandot", and Mimi in Puccini's "La bohème".

In January 2009 she joined the National Theatre Brno as a regular soloist, starring there as Mařenka in Smetana's opera "The Bartered Bride" staged by Ondřej Havelka. In 2006, in relation to that particular role, she was nominated for the prestigious theatrical "Thalia Award". 

Pavla has also performed Lauretta in Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi", Nedda in Leoncavallo's "I Pagliacci", the title role in Martinů's "Juliette", Liù in Puccini's "Turandot", Micaela in Bizet's "Carmen", the title role in Dvořák's "Rusalka", Janáček's "Jenufa", Míla in Janáček's "Fate", Káťa in Janáček's "Káťa Kabanová", Vendulka in Smetana's "The Kiss", Rosalinda in Strauss's "The Bat", Clémence in Saariaho's "Love at a Distance", Sister Paskalina in Martinů's "The Miracles of Mary", Mimi in Puccini's "La bohème", Antonia in Offenbach's "The Tales of Hoffmann", and Katerina in Martinů's "The Greek Passion".

Her concert activity at home and abroad is also extensive, including sacred works and songs. In numerous concerts and opera performances, she has collaborated with world-famous Czech and foreign conductors, such as Jiří Bělohlávek, Jiří Kout, Eliahu Inbal, Iván Fischer, Jakub Hrůša, Kaspar Zehnder, Sylvain Cambreling, Leopold Hager, and Asher Fisch. Pavla has performed on the concert stages with Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra.

In June 2012, accompanied by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Pavla performed the song cycle “Shéhérazade” by Maurice Ravel and sang the soprano solo in Leonard Bernstein's “Kaddish Symphony” under the conductor Eliahu Inbal and with recitation by Samuel Pisar. In 2014, still with the same cast, she repeated the soprano solo performance in “Kaddish Symphony” at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, and in 2016 she performed it at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

In autumn 2011, with great success, she mastered the role of Jenufa in a co-production of three French theatres (Rennes, Limoges and Reims). In 2012 she was nominated for the "Thalia Award" for the title role of Míla in Janáček's "Fate". In autumn 2013, she mastered the title role in Janáček's opera "Káťa Kabanová" at the Danish National Opera. In May 2014, Pavla took part in a concert tour with conductor Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, starring in the title role of Dvořák's "Rusalka".

In October 2016 at the National Theatre Brno, Pavla mastered the title role in "Káťa Kabanová" under the supervision of Canadian director Robert Carsen. She received the "Thalia Award" for this role.

Pavla was presented with the title role of Clémence in the contemporary opera "Love at a Distance" at the National Theatre Brno, composed by Finnish-French composer Kaija Saariaho. This is an unconventional work of art that was being staged in the Czech Republic for the first time.

In December 2018, she studied the title role in Janáček's opera "Káťa Kabanová" at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. It was produced by Juraj Valčuha and staged by Willy Decker.

Since 2022 on the occasion of the French-Czech co-production she has been performing the part of Alcina (G. F. Händel "Alcina") with the Collegium 1704 orchestra under the conductor Václav Luks at the National Theatre Brno.

Furthermore, Pavla's activities are quite extensive and wide in relation to creating recordings for various record companies. She recorded such pieces as "Czech Christmas Mass" by J. J. Ryba (Multisonic), "Lenore" by A. Rejcha (Orfeo), and various compositions for organ and voice by Bedřich Antonín Wiedermann (Rosa). For Supraphon she recorded Miloslav Kabeláč's Symphony No. 5 in B Flat Minor "Drammatica" and another CD with Bohuslav Martinů's "Cantatas".