Soňa Červená died at the age of 97

Soňa Červená

The actress and opera singer Soňa Červená has died at the age of 97.  After a long stay in hospital in Prague, she passed away peacefully on Sunday 7th May, 2023.

"Swans often circle around on the Vltava below my windows. Sometimes I can count up to thirty of them. I often walk across to them, always taking some cubes of stale bread with me.  I watch them, chat with them, make jokes and laugh.  But their dark, serious eyes are elsewhere. A thought strikes me; when and how will they die?"

(Soňa Červená in an interview with Aleš Březina for Harmonie magazine issue 9, 2010. )

Soňa Červená was one of the most distinctive personalities in Czech music, theatre and film. She was born into a leading Czech theatrical family. Her father (author and cabaret artist Jiří Červený) founded Červená sedma, one of the most significant Czech cabaret clubs, in 1909.  The club became a place where artists, intellectuals and other personalities would meet. It found favour with a wide cross-section of the public as well as with critics.   Its repertoire was a mix of songs and sketches and it may be said that it anticipated the later alternative theatres, such as today’s Semafor.  Martinů contributed to its cultural legacy with his Three songs for Červená sedma, H 129.

This is how Soňa remembered Martinů:
Although I never met Martinů, my father did, when he was in charge of his literary cabaret  Červená sedma.  One day the young Martinů turned up in his office and said: “Mr. Červený, I would like to write something for you, but unfortunately I have no suitable texts.“
My father was delighted, because even though Martinů was a fledgling composer, he was already known and acknowledged. He replied: “Well then, why not take something from out of this drawer?“ There he kept various texts higgledy-piggledy in reserve. Martinů then asked: „And may I know how much you pay?“ My father answered that he usually paid 100 crowns for each text and the same for each musical setting. Martinů then reached into the drawer and took out something at random: ”I‘ll take these three, so I would therefore need three hundred crowns.“ And he did indeed write three songs for Červená sedma which have even been published now.

Soňa Červená performed a number of Martinů works in her career.  For instance, she sang in Karel Ančerl’s performance of Bouquet of Flowers, later re-issued on CD.  Together with Karel Košárek she appeared as a narrator of the libretto of La Revue de cuisine, likewise available on CD.
 

Translated by Michael Crump