Prague Symphony Orchestra - concert review, April 2010

Review of the concert with Prague Symphony Orchestra, 25th of April 2010.

Kryštof Málek, 3.5.2010

Mezzo-soprano Barbora Polášková scored instantly, with the opening Habanera by Georges Bizet, which she tackled with the utmost assurance, vivacity and temperament, displaying a voice range thanks to which she disproved the oft repeated argument about the Smetana Hall posing an insurmountable challenge to singers.

Similarly, her Dalila, from Saint-Saëns´ opera, Samson et Dalila, conveyed a message suggestive enough to send the proverbial chill down the listener´s spine. The concert´s climax came, thanks also to a disciplined and exceptionally well disposed and tuned orchestra, with the Flower Duet, from Léo Delibes´ opera, Lakmé, sung here by Olga Jelínková and Barbora Polášková. Theirs were immaculately controlled voices, finely balanced in terms of hue and intonation alike, which ushered the audience into the kind of pleasurably nostalgic mood that is doubtless also proper to the world of opera.