Great Voices (4): Patricia Janečková
I included a few clips from Patricia Janečková in previous entries, but I think she merits a post all to herself. She is only 22 and is already regarded as one of the 3-4 best sopranos in the world. Considering that most opera singers don’t hit their stride until their mid-30s, that is remarkable. Even so, she is doing the smart thing: where many great talents burn themselves out pushing too hard, she is taking her time, and seems to be playing the long game. For this post, I wanted to show her at various stages in her emergence.
2010: Ennio Morricone: “Once upon a time in the West”
Here is Janečková at age 12, in a talent contest (think “Slovakia’s Got Talent”), performing Morricone’s iconic movie theme song. She made it her signature piece early in her career.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geVBruZAWA4
Between 2012 and 2015, Janečková vanished, and there was speculation about whether she had quit. Actually, she was in training, and when she came back, it was with a bang. Check out my earlier post, which includes two performances from shortly after her return: https://zapatosjam.blogspot.com/2020/06/ah-anna.html
2015: “Once upon a time in the West”
Janečková reprises her old signature song, in one of her first recitals after coming back. Here she is singing with a full orchestra:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5eQ9UTmDLo
2016: Puccini: "Quando me´n vo´" (La bohème)
From one of the Big Three of Italian opera (the others being Verdi and Rossini) Now she is really hitting her stride:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPVZZPQAJpo
2017: W. A. Mozart - Laudate Dominum, KV 339
Every woman who is serious about being a classical vocalist will perform this at some point. In my opinion, Janečková blasts it out of the park.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljvTwbxrylc
2019: (with Titusz Tóbisz) Giuseppe Verdi - Libiamo ne´lieti calici (La Traviata)
From what is probably the biggest Italian opera of all. Here they are doing a casual performance at an outdoor festival:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bfAwiSOejk
2021: Gioacchino Rossini: La Danza
This is the vocal equivalent of stunt work—you only try it in public if you have perfect control and unshakeable confidence. She’s got both in spades: