25 Years of Nachtigall Artists - Anniversary Gala

It is a great honor and pleasure for us that we have been able, for the last 25 years, to bring the most famous opera stars to you – the Czech audience. We value the support of all of you, whether you have been our fans since our beginnings or you started coming our concerts recently. Whether we like it or not, a quarter-century makes us to look back, reflect on what we have accomplished, but above all, we are now obliged to throw a really big party.

We have managed to make Prague a destination that opera stars count on. Due to this, you, dear audience, no longer have to travel to New York's Metropolitan Opera, Milan's La Scala, or festivals in Salzburg, Bayreuth or Verona. Amazing singers as well as conductors and orchestras come to see you! And often not just for a single concert. Many of them return because they favour the Czech audience and – we must proudly admit – our agency, too. Cecilia Bartoli, Joyce DiDonato, Elina Garanča, Anna Netrebko, Nadine Sierra, Rolando Villazón, Erwin Schrott, Joseph Calleja, Juan Diego Flórez, Bryn Terfel, Jonathan Tetelman, Mariusz Kwiecień, Pretty Yende, Pene Patti, to name a few; they all find time in their busy schedules for Prague and gladly accept our invitations to other concerts. Let’s not forget our local opera stars whom you're used to at our concerts, too: Zuzana Marková, Simona Šaturová and Petr Nekoranec and many other. But enough balancing for now! Let’s talk about the celebration:

We promise you a gala to remember. We are not able to give you all the birthday guests’ names yet, however, there are three names we can share with you already… The South African soprano Pretty Yende made her Prague debut almost one year after her famous debut (17th January 2013) at the New York Metropolitan Opera in the role of Adèle alongside Juan Diego Flórez in Rossini's Le comte Ory. She revisited Prague in 2017, 2019 and most recently in March 2023, when she sang with the no less famous American soprano Nadine Sierra. She fell in love with Prague, hence she is joining our celebration with her voice. In the 2024/25 season, some powerful roles await the charismatic soprano: Antonia (Les Contes d’ Hoffmann) at the Metropolitan Opera, Norina (Don Pasquale) at the Vienna State Opera, Lucia di Lammermoor at the Semper Opera in Dresden and Marie (Le fille du régiment) at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples.

The New Zealand tenor of Samoan origin Pene Pati is simply a must for the party! He “illuminated” the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum with his personality twice (2023 and 2024) "Sheer Joy of Pene Pati's singing", wrote the Prague critics. The joy was not ours only, but Pene’s, too. This sunshine – he really deserves such nickname – is the embodiment of the joy of singing, love for the audience, for life, for the world in general. Have you not had a chance to meet him? See for yourself at our birthday concert! In the 2024/25 season, Pene will be Gounod's Faust at the Paris Opera, Rodolfo (La bohème) in London's Covent Garden, the Bavarian State Opera, the Lyric Opera in Chicago and San Francisco, the Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto) at the Metropolitan Opera, as well as Werther in Geneva and Strasbourg.

The charismatic Italian singer Adolfo Corrado will be our third birthday guest. He marked the history in 2023 when he became the absolute winner of the famous BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition – as the first basso in the history. He performed on many prestigious stages (La Scala in Milan, Teatro Regio in Turin, Palau de Les Arts in Valencia, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Whitsun Festival in Salzburg, etc.). In April 2024, he made his debut in Prague, where he enchanted everyone with his sonorous voice and flawless Czech in the aria of Vodník in Rusalka. In the coming season, he will perform, among others, as Ramfis (Aida) in Rouen, Ferrando (Il trovatore) in Amsterdam, Sir Giorgio (I puritani) at Tirol Festival Erl, and with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Myung-Whun Chung will participate in Rossini's Stabat mater in Rome.

It will all happen under the baton of the great Italian conductor Giacomo Sagripanti, while the artists will be accompanied by the Prague Philharmonia, with whom we have developed a wonderful relationship over the years.

The most esteemed audience!

We will be honored should you come to celebrate this small jubilee with us and receive pure joy from the concert!

Program and cast

Pretty Yende – soprano
Pene Pati – tenor
Adolfo Corrado – bass
& other birthday guests
Prague Philharmonia
Giacomo Sagripanti – conductor