Labyrinth of Love: Puccini & Verdi
The opera gala evening in the Brewery Garden brings a Puccini-Verdi opera feast. Audiences will hear the grand finale of the festival in a stellar international lineup: Danielle de Niese, Pavel Černoch, Ester Pavlů, and Tomáš Netopil.
This concert is part of the Closing Festival Weekend, which includes three following concerts:
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- Collegium 1704 & Luks, 7.8. 15:00, Castle Baroque Theatre Český Krumlov
- BERG: Inuit Legend, 7.8. 20:00, Port 1560 - Kotelna Český Krumlov
- Labyrinth of Love: Puccini & Verdi, 8.8. 20:30, Brewery garden Český Krumlov
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Artists
Pavel Černoch - tenor
Danielle de Niese - soprano
Ester Pavlů - mezzo-soprano
Tomáš Netopil - conductor
Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK
Program
A selection of opera arias by Giacomo Puccini and Giuseppe Verdi.
Danielle de Niese
Described by The New York Times as “the opera’s coolest soprano,” this versatile artist regularly performs on the world’s most prestigious opera and concert stages, has made countless recordings, and is also a television personality and philanthropist. In the 2025/26 season, Danielle de Niese returns to Opera Australia in the title role of Bizet’s Carmen, where she made her debut last season, and debuts as Jenny in Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny with English National Opera. De Niese will also make her concert debut with the London Mozart Players in a program devoted exclusively to Mozart, conducted by Jonathan Bloxham.
Ester Pavlů
Ester Pavlová, one of the most promising singers and mezzo-sopranos of the younger generation, studied at the HAMU with Helena Kaupová and has performed on the most important national and international stages. At the Prague National Theatre Opera and the Prague State Opera, she sang the title role in Bizet’s Carmen, Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, the Queen in Švanda the Piper and the Foreign Princess in Dvořák’s Rusalka. She has mainly performed abroad: she toured the United Kingdom and the United States, made her debut in Basel as Santuzza, in Riga as Eboli in Don Carlos, at the National Theatre in Sofia in the title role of Rossini’s Cinderella and also made her debut in Vienna this season at the Theater an dem Wien as the Ice Queen in Švanda’s Bagpipes. She has worked with leading ensembles and conductors such as J. Bělohlávek, P. Inkinen, D. G. Carreras, P. Popelka, F. Chaslin, J. Cura, A. Jurkevyč, J. Valčuha and many others.
Pavel Černoch
Pavel Černoch, one of today’s leading tenors, regularly performs at the most prestigious opera houses, including La Scala, Vienna, Paris, Dutch National Opera, Royal Ballet and Opera, and festivals in Salzburg and Glyndebourne. He frequently collaborates with the world’s most renowned conductors, such as Daniel Barenboim, Kirill Petrenko, Simon Rattle, Andris Nelsons, John Eliot Gardiner, Charles Dutoit, and Semyon Bychkov. Černoch’s 2025/26 season includes his debut with the Fondazione Lirico Sinfonica Petruzzelli e Teatri di Bari in a highly anticipated return to the title role in Don Carlo, as well as the role of Alberto Gregor in The Makropulos Affair at the Vienna State Opera, the role of the Prince in Rusalka at the Bayerische Staatsoper, and the role of Jeník in a new production of The Bartered Bride directed by Laurent Pelly at the Teatro Real. He will perform in Bruckner’s Mass No. 3 with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano, in Martinů’s Christmas Cantata with the Prague Philharmonic Choir, Verdi’s Requiem with the Prague Symphony Orchestra, the title role in Faust and Hélène with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and he will also perform the role of Anatol in Barber’s Vanessa with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andris Nelsons.
Tomáš Netopil
Tomáš Netopil is the chief conductor and music director of the FOK–Prague Symphony Orchestra (from the 2025/2026 season), founder and artistic director of the International Summer Academy Kroměříž, former general music director of the Aalto Musiktheater & Philharmonie Essen (2013–2023), and former principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic (2018–2024). He has also collaborated with the Czech Philharmonic on New Year’s television concerts and at festivals in Litomyšl and Kissinger Sommer. He has appeared as a guest conductor at leading opera houses (Geneva, Berlin, Chicago, Tokyo, Prague, Cologne) and has collaborated with the Santa Cecilia, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Tonkünstler Wien, Oslo Philharmonic, Antwerp Symphony, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, and Sydney Symphony orchestras. In North America, he will open the 2025/2026 season with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. He regularly works with Concentus Musicus Wien, Collegium 1704, and the Silentium ensemble. He founded the Dvořák Prague Youth Philharmonic (2021). His recordings include Blackford’s Cello Concerto and Dvořák’s Legends and Rhapsodies (Pentatone), Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass (1927), Dvořák’s cello works, Martinů’s Ariane and Double Concerto, and Smetana’s My Country.
Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK
Symphony Orchestra of the Capital City of Prague. The Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK is a leading Czech ensemble with an impressive tradition and international reputation. It enriches the concert life of the Czech metropolis and represents Prague and Czech culture abroad at the highest level. As the official orchestra of the City of Prague, it is based and performs in the Municipal House. The abbreviation FOK symbolizes the original branches in which the orchestra was active, namely film – opera – concerts. Since time immemorial, the ensemble has also been referred to as the Prague Symphony Orchestra. From the 2020/2021 season, Tomáš Brauner is the chief conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra. Prior to him, Rudolf Pekárek, Václav Smetáček, Jiří Bělohlávek, Petr Altrichter, Gaetano Delogu, Serge Baudo, Jiří Kout and Pietari Inkinen have held the post of chief conductor. Tomáš Netopil is the appointed chief conductor from the 2025/2026 season. The concert masters are Roman Patočka and Rita Čepurčenko.
Brewery Garden
Imagine the magical view of the Český Krumlov Castle, a refreshing summer evening, the murmur of the river nearby and music interpreted by world-famous stars.
