The eminent Czech soprano Irena Troupová gained international renown
through the historically-informed interpretation of early music. Since the
1990s, when she lived in Berlin, she has performed on stages throughout
the whole of Europe, collaborating with the likes of Thomas Hengelbrock,
Howard Arman, Joshua Rifkin, the ensemble Orpheon, etc.; in the Czech
Republic also with Jaroslav Tůma, Barbara Willi, Monika Knoblochová,
Ensemble Tourbillon, Musica Florea, and many others. She gradually extended
her scope to include Romantic and Modern vocal and operatic works.
She has performed in concert series of the Prague Symphony Orchestra, the
Czech Philharmonic and the Prague Philharmonia and has been a frequent
participant of the Prague Spring festival. She took part in the internationally
acclaimed recording of Bohuslav Martinů’s opera Le jour de bonté (The Day
of Charity) for Arco Diva, she collaborates with modern music ensembles
(Pavel Šnajdr’s Brno Contemporary Orchestra, BERG Orchestra, Konvergence,
Prague Modern, etc.) and contemporary composer – Marek Kopelent,
Jan Dušek, Peter Koeszeghy, Miloš Štědroň, Jiří Kadeřábek, Roman Z. Novák,
Jiří Teml, and others. She is also interested in the music of interwar authors
(Ullmann, Schulhoff, von Hannenheim, Herschkowitz, etc.). Irena Troupová
teaches at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno and
leads international singing courses.
Czech soprano Irena Troupová, who began her career as an early-music specialist, is a gratifyingly clear exponent of these challenging, grippingly individual songs. They demand complete musical and intonational assurance, which she provides in abundance. She’s comfortable with the angular intervallic leaps of “Aus dem Häuschen in den Garten,” another Steffen verse, and a song such as “Sonnenuntergang,” with its treacherously high middle section, could easily have sounded shrill in the hands of an artist with less vocal control. Troupová even sounds right at home with the Drei Jiddische Lieder, the standout of which is “A Mejdel in die Johren,” with its mix of tragedy, reproach and humor. Pianist Jan Dusek matches her colors and renders Ullmann’s crunchy harmonies with fullness and understanding. This is a major release.
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