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The Staatsoper's new production of Janáček's opera buzzes with life thanks to Sir Simon Rattle's conducting and an excellent cast led by Vera-Lotte Boecker and Magdalena Kožená.

An ambitious effort to honor hometown hero Otakar Ostrčil sags under its own weight at the Prague National Theatre. 

A chilly reception for director Kay Link's fresh take on a mythical Czech heroine mars an otherwise superb performance.

Aided by spirited singers and enthusiastic musicians, director Ondřej Havelka brings an imaginative, ironic touch to a lesser-known Smetana opera.

Adding a prequel to Gianni Schicchi mostly proves that a prequel isn't necessary... 

Armida offers a compelling story, resonant issues and the spectacle of dueling wizards – but unfortunately, not in this production.

The National Theater revives Jaromír Weinberger opera Schwanda the Bagpiper with energy, affection and overly active imagination.

All the energy is in the pit in this flat production of a time-honored favorite.

Lively singing saves Magdalena Švecová's listless production of Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Národní divadlo.

Jiři Herman’s staging is authentically Japanese and focuses on the deliberate injustice of Butterfly's treatment, with strong performances in the lead roles.

After blazing new trails abroad, the Czech Philhamonic keeps its hometown fans happy with a rousing return to form.

Smetana's Libuše makes a timely reappearance in Prague.

The National Theatre opens its new season with a Verdi favorite short on substance but lovely to hear.

The effervescent conductor took six little-known Czech works into another ether: one in which the footprints are invisible.

With expert assistance from Dennis Russell Davies, the overlooked Brno Philharmonic makes the most of a contemporary cantata.

National Theatre Brno brings David Radok’s 2014 staging of Janáček’s Makropulos Case to the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the opera's first-ever journey to Asia, with Annalena Persson in the lead.

In a delirious opening to the new opera season, Prague's National Theatre puts a contemporary spin on Carl Orff and the Brothers Grimm.

Whilst the spirit of Mozart permeates the Estates Theatre in Prague, it was sadly absent in both the staging and singing of his “work of uninterrupted perfection”.  

Karita Mattila produces a star turn in the title role, but a pure concert staging does little to bring out the cleverness of the libretto of Janáček’s Makropulos Case.

It's not for nothing that Janáček's opera is properly titled Její pastorkyňa (Her Stepdaughter). Karita Mattila's Kostelnička was at the centre of a powerful concert performance of Jenůfa.

“What Czech does not like music?” declares Beneš, the jailor in Smetana’s opera Dalibor. Certainly not Jiří Bělohlávek, who is as superb an advocate for Czech music as any conductor in the world right now.

The fantasy characters prove to be more interesting than the real ones in a Czech treatment of Engelbert Humperdinck's fairy-tale classic.

Seeing Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre in Prague is a special occasion, for two reasons. Firstly, for the history: it’s the theatre where the opera was first performed, back in 1787. Secondly, because today’s Estates Theatre is one of the loveliest opera houses you will find anywhere. Seating just 643, it’s an intimate space, in the classic horseshoe parterre-plus-boxes configuration.

Tenor Daniel Frank impressed in the title role in the Prague State Opera's new Tannhäuser, directed by Andrejs Žagars – but the production itself suffered from a lack of interpretation and inventiveness.