Soňa Červená
Czech mezzo Soňa Červená was born on 9 September 1925 in Prague, where she studied with Robert Rozner and Lydia Wegner-Salmowá and began singing with an operetta ensemble.
She worked at the opera house in Brno for three years, before her successful performance as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier at the Prague National Theatre led to her performing the same role in Berlin the next year, then moving to the Opern- und Schauspielhaus Frankfurt, where she worked principally until the 1990s.
She appeared at on opera stages around the world, including Bayreuth, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Glyndebourne, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera and Vienna State Opera.
Soňa Červená died in Prague on 7 May 2023, aged ninety-seven.