The soprano was born on September 23, 1907, in Prague and completed her vocal training at the conservatory in her hometown. In 1924, she debuted at the National Theater in Prague, and in 1928, she performed at the Verona Festival. In 1929, she joined the Kroll Opera, where she remained an ensemble member until the opera house’s closure in 1931. She also performed at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. Afterward, she sang in two of Max Reinhardt’s Offenbach productions at the Großes Schauspielhaus, performed at the Admiralspalast, and appeared in operetta films. After the Nazis’ rise to power, the singer fled to Vienna in 1933, where she was part of the ensemble of the State Opera until 1938, and performed as a guest at the Scala in Milan and at the Salzburg Festival.
In 1938, Novotná left Vienna and emigrated to the United States. After engagements in San Francisco and Los Angeles, she joined the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1940, where she performed until 1957, taking on various roles and giving nearly 200 performances. The singer also gave guest performances in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, and, after the war, in Prague, Warsaw, Zagreb, Belgrade, Gothenburg, and Vienna. Jarmila Novotná died on February 9, 1994, in New York.
1907 Prague
1994 New York