Ivo Žídek

Ivo Žídek (4 June 1926 – 19 May 2003) was a celebrated Czech lyric tenor, known for his vivid portrayals of character roles in the operas of Smetana, Dvořák and Janáček.

Ivo Zídek was born in Kravaře, Czechoslovakia near the Czech-Polish border in the region formerly known as Silesia. He was descended from a long family line of music teachers and cantors. His father, Libor Zídek, was also an actor and a singer. As a youth, he was schooled in Outrava (Moresque Ostrava) where he studied painting because the local music schools had been closed under the Nazi occupation. However, he studied voice privately with Rudolf Vašek (at first, as a baritone) and studied music theory with Josef Schreiber. He was invited by conductor Zdeněk Chalabala to sing with the opera company in Ostrava, making his debut in the title role of Jules Massenet's Werther" in 1944. He continued singing in Ostrava until 1948.

In 1947, he was invited to Prague to appear as guest soloist with the National Theatre as Jeník in Bedřich Smetana's Prodaná nevesta (The Bartered Bride) – a signature role he would repeat over 500 times – as well as parts in Smetana's Tajemství (The Secret) and Zdeněk Fibich's Bouře (The Tempest). The following year, he joined the national company as a principal soloist and remained there for the next 37 years.

At the National Theatre, Zídek became strongly associated with many of the lyric tenor roles in the Czech and Slovak operatic repertoire. His bright, youthful voice was ideally suited for the Prince in Antonín Dvořák's Rusalka. Over the years, he portrayed not only staple roles by Smetana, Dvořák, Janáček and Martinů but also characters in the operas of Fibich, Karel Kovarovic, Otakar Ostrčil, Eugen Suchoň and Ján Cikker.

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