AmCham Slovakia

The Slovak National Theatre opens its 106th theatre season with an extraordinary gala concert in honour of the legendary soprano Gabriela Beňačková. The concert will be held on September 6, 2025, in the new building of the Slovak National Theatre.

She has stood on stage with three of the world's most famous tenors - Domingo, Pavarotti and Carreras. She was the first Rusalka in the history of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, has a Grammy nomination to her credit, and has performed one of her life's roles - Janáček's Jenůfa - more than a thousand times.

Her name is inseparably linked with the world's most famous opera houses - from Vienna, Milan, Paris and London to New York's Metropolitan Opera.

She has worked with conducting legends such as Leonard Bernstein, Claudio Abbado and James Levine. She also has a place at the Vienna State Opera, where she was awarded the prestigious title of Kammersängerin. She is a Grammy Award nominee and, as a Janáček specialist, she holds her collaboration with Sir Charles Mackerras in particular high regard.

She portrayed the character of Jenůfa a thousand times during her career. Her vocal performance has been heard on the world's most prestigious stages, including La Scala, Covent Garden, Opéra de Paris and the Salzburg Festival.

The world's and national opera stars will perform in her honour - Swedish dramatic soprano Nina Stemme, American diva Corinne Winters, Slovak tenor Pavol Breslik, who will also appear at the MET and in Vienna this season, and the leading Slovak soloists Mária Porubčinová and Eva Hornyáková.

The Orchestra of the Slovak National Theatre Opera will be conducted by Tomáš Brauner. There will be great arias and scenes from the works of R. Wagner, U. Giordano, A. Dvořák, A. Boito, Ch. Gounod, L. Janáček, as well as E. Suchoň and B. Smetana.

Let's celebrate the voice that moved the world together in a gala concert full of emotion, respect and unforgettable music.

It is a great honour for the Slovak National Theatre to pay tribute to this exceptional personality of the opera world.

The SND invites everyone to a festive evening full of emotions, respect and unforgettable music.

More information and tickets

https://snd.sk/predstavenie/16604/otvaraci-galakoncert-106-sezony/2025-09-06/19-00

 

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CORINNE WINTERS / soprano

Recently named Best Female Singer of 2024 by the Oper! Awards, American soprano Corinne Winters has sung over thirty leading roles in major opera houses around the world.

Corinne begins her 24/25 season as the soprano soloist in Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass with Jakub Hrůša and the Czech Philharmonic, both for the BBC Proms and the Dvořák Prague Festiva​​l. Also in concert, she makes her debut as the title role in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut with Washington Concert Opera, and appears with the Smetana Litomyšl Festival in a gala concert of Slavic opera scenes. On the operatic stage, Corinne makes her leading role debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Mimì in La bohème, her house debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper in a new Krzysztof Warlikowski production of Káťa Kabanová, and her house debut with the Greek National Opera, reprising both title roles in Dmitri Tcherniakov’s production of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide and Iphigénie en Tauride. Additionally, Corinne returns to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden as the title role in Jenůfa, and to Teatro dell’Opera di Roma as the title role in a new production of Suor Angelica. She will also return to one of her signature roles, Violetta Valéry, in a new production of La traviata during the summer of 2025 at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.

Corinne’s debut at the Salzburg Festival in Barrie Kosky’s production of Káťa Kabanová garnered international acclaim, including an International Classical Music Award for Best Opera DVD. In addition to Salzburg, Corinne has performed her signature role of Káťa at Seattle Opera, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Janáček Brno International Festival, Staatsoper Stuttgart, and Opéra de Lyon. Other recent opera highlights include both title roles in Iphigénie en Aulide and Iphigénie en Tauride at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Rusalka at the Wiener Staatsoper and Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, Moniuszko’s Halka at Teatro Real and Theater an der Wien alongside Piotr Beczała, Madama Butterfly and Blanche de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Madama Butterfly and Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta at Oper Frankfurt, Jenůfa at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Jenůfa and Mimì in La bohème at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in València, Giorgetta in Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica at La Monnaie / De Munt, and Violetta in La traviata at Royal Opera House Covent Garden, a role which she has also performed at Seattle Opera, Opera Australia, English National Opera, Opera Hong Kong, and Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre.

In concert, Corinne has sung Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder with the Bamberg Symphony at the Wiener Musikverein, the soprano soloist in Dvořák’s Stabat Mater with the Berlin Philharmonic, and Dvořák’s cantata The Spectre’s Bride with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, all conducted by Jakub Hrůša. Other concert highlights include a gala concert of arias with Andrea Battistoni and the Orchestre de Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, the soprano solo in a European tour of Verdi’s Requiem with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, led by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and Les nuits d’été with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra. She has appeared in recital with the George London Foundation, where she was praised by Opera News as “a striking brunette who manages to be simultaneously gamine and seductress, reveal[ing] an arresting, uniquely plum-colored soprano that could pass for mezzo in the middle but explodes with vibrant color on top,” as well as the New York Festival of Song, Tucson Desert Song Festival, and Vocal Arts DC, showcasing Spanish song repertoire from her debut album, Canción amorosa.

An International Opera Awards nominee Best Female Singer in 2023, Corinne has won prizes from the Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation, Marcello Giordani Foundation (1st prize, Critics Choice Award, Vero Beach Prize), George London Foundation (George London/Leonie Rysanek Award), Sullivan Foundation (Career Grant), Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation (1st Prize), Palm Beach Opera Competition (1st Prize), Gerda Lissner Foundation (2nd Prize), and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (National Semifinalist, 1st place New England Region), and is a recipient of Wolf Trap Opera’s Shouse Career Grant. Corinne earned a Master of Music degree in vocal performance from the Peabody Conservatory and Bachelor of Science degree magna cum laude from Towson University before appearing as a resident artist at the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.

As a master teacher and career mentor, Corinne enjoys sharing her passion for the craft with organizations such as Opera di Roma’s Fabbrica Young Artist Program, YoungArts Miami, Premiere Opera Foundation, National Student Opera Society UK, The University of Arizona, and her alma maters Towson University and the Peabody Conservatory, as well as her private voice studio.