Advent Concert II • Markéta Cukrová

Thanks to her extraordinary versatility and sense of style, the mezzo-soprano Markéta Cukrová is a sought-after performer of vocal music from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. Her long-standing success in early music performance has led to collaborations with renowned ensembles and orchestras (including La Risonanza, Collegium Marianum, Collegium Vocale Gent, Collegium 1704, Orkiestra Historyczna, the Czech Philharmonic, and the Flemish Philharmonic), with whom she has made more than 20 recordings. She has earned acclaim for her performances of the art song repertoire (Haydn, Mozart, Tomášek, Berlioz) with the accompaniment played on the fortepiano. Her album of arias by J. D. Zelenka with Ensemble Tourbillon and her recording of J. J. Ryba’s Stabat Mater with the orchestra L’Armonia Terrena, which received the 2017 Diapason d’Or, are highly acclaimed by the European musical community. In 2018, she issued a CD of Antonín Dvořák’s Moravian Duets accompanied by Vojtěch Spurný playing the original piano from the estate of Antonín Dvořák (Bösendorfer, Vienna 1879), and in 2022, her recording of songs by Bohuslav Martinů and Benjamin Britten accompanied by Ivo Kahánek was nominated for an Anděl Award. Besides performing art songs, she also devotes herself to the oratorio and symphonic repertoire.

In addition to her extensive concert activity, Cukrová also devotes herself to theatre. Her performance in the role of Dardano in Handel’s opera Amadigi di Gaula at the Händelfestspiele in Göttingen earned her enthusiastic praise from critics and the festival’s invitation to give a solo recital. Her large repertoire spans from Monteverdi to Kaija Saariaho, and she makes regular guest appearances at the National Theatres in Brno, Prague, and Ostrava. In 2022 with the Czech Philharmonic led by Semyon Bychkov, she sang the role of the Second Wood Sprite in Dvořák’s Rusalka, then a year later she accepted an invitation from Berlin’s Staatsoper Unter den Linden to make a guest appearance in Charpentier’s Médee under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. In recent years, she has twice been nominated as a finalist for the Opera Plus Award for Best Opera Singer of the Season and for three more important awards (the Thalia Award, the Southern Bohemia Thalia, and the Classic Prague Awards).

Cukrová studied singing at the State Conservatoire in Bratislava and also took private singing lessons under Marie Urbanová. She graduated from the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in English studies. She also teaches music and has authored a Czech translation of the book True Singing – a conversation with the successful singing teacher Margreet Honig about singing technique and teaching.

In 2022, Cukrová appeared in Vladimír Sommer’s Vocal Symphony at the Janáček Festival in Brno, enjoying wide critical acclaim. “Cukrová’s self-assured interpretation can be appreciated especially for the absolute clarity of expression, which she unwaveringly maintained throughout.” (Jiří Čevela, Harmonie)

During her studies in Pilsen, Prague, Berlin and thanks to her participation in master classes, Helena Jiříkovská improved her professional skills under the guidance of such outstanding musicians as Jindřiška Holotová, Jiří Tomášek, Jan Tomeš, Eduard Grač, Jacques Ghestem and Isaac Stern. As a soloist she has performed with Czech and international orchestras (Bamberger Symphoniker, Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra MDR, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Talich Chamber Orchestra, etc.); as a chamber musician she has appeared on the most important concert stages such as the Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Carnegie Hall in New York.

Since 1996 she has been the concertmaster of the Talich Chamber Orchestra, and she also holds the same position in the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. In the past she was a member of the Smetana Piano Trio and the Janáček Piano Trio. In the years 2008–2022 she was the first violin of the Škampa Quartet, with whose members she also taught young musicians. In addition to master classes for the Lake District Summer Music Festival and Dartington Summer School, they have collaborated with the Royal Academy of Music in London.

He studied with professors Josef Zíka, Viktor Moučka and Josef Vlach at the Prague Conservatory. In 1989, he joined the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. Besides playing in orchestras, he is a keen chamber musician.

He started playing the cello aged seven. While attending the Music School in Czech town of Chtěboř, he won the attention of cellist Václav Jírovec and famous professor Mirko Škampa. This encounter played an important role in his later professional development as he became Škampa’s private student soon after. He then also gained his first chamber and orchestral experience. He joined a student piano trio and the Prague Student Orchestra, famous talent seedbed, with which he went on numerous tours abroad. After graduating from a grammar school, he was enrolled at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in 1986, it is very rare to see a student without conservatory education accepted to the Faculty of Music there. He studied the cello with Professor Rudolf Lojda and graduated in 1990.

Already during his studies, he became a member of various ensembles and orchestras (Prague Chamber Orchestra, Virtuosi di Praga, Czech Chamber Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra). He later co-founded chamber ensembles Joseph Trio, Musica Gaudeans, Concertino Notturno Praha, Virtuosi di basso and Capella Regia Praha (focusing on historically informed performance). With the Musica Gaudeans quartet, he took part in the finale of an international competition in Osaka (Japan) twice in a row and played in dozens of concerts in the Czech Republic as well as Germany, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Greece and Slovakia. He is a sought-after chamber musician for his interpretation qualities and rich artistic experience.

Since 2000, he has been an active member of the Czech Philharmonic Quartet, which he also co-founded. The ensemble performs in the Czech Republic and has been to successful tours to Japan, Israel, Luxembourg, Great Britain, Scotland, Germany and Slovakia. They have also recorded numerous CDs. In 2016, he founded the Czech Philharmonic Piano Trio AMALIA with flutist Lucie Brotbek Prochásková and pianist Václav Mácha. They focus on popularising great compositions written for this rather unusual instrumental group.