Magdalena Švecová

Biography

Magdalena Švecová initially studied violin at the Conservatory in České Budějovice and Prague, and later at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. In 2004, she graduated in Opera Directing from the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts (JAMU) in Brno, under the guidance of Associate Professor Alena Vaňáková. Her productions for the JAMU Chamber Opera included Milhaud’s L'Abandon d'Ariane and La Délivrance de Thésée, Markéta Dvořáková’s Giraffe Opera, and Leoš Janáček’s The Beginning of a Romance and the ballet Rákós Rákoczy (premiered at the Janáček Brno International Festival 2004). Her other notable productions include Jaroslav Krček’s electroacoustic opera The Harlot Raab (2003) and Stravinsky’s Histoire du soldat (2005), which served as the opening performance for the newly reconstructed Reduta Theatre in Brno. For the J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň, she directed Donizetti’s Don Pasquale (2005), Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (2007), Dvořák’s The Jacobin (2010), and Krček’s opera The Dress the World Has Never Seen (2014). To mark the Year of Czech Music 2024, she contributed a production of Smetana’s The Kiss. For the National Theatre in Prague, she created productions of Smetana’s The Bartered Bride (2008), Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (2018), Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia (2021), and Trojan’s Carousel (2026). She also collaborated on the staged production of Britten’s Noye's Fludde (2016) and, in 2020, on the video series Advent Calendar and Musica non grata – Beauty... and yet they ring on!. At the National Theatre Brno, she directed Donizetti’s L'elisir d'amore (2017), Zámečník’s Ferda the Ant (2020), Puccini’s La bohème (2021), Lehár’s operetta The Merry Widow (2023), and Verdi’s Aida (2025). For the South Bohemian Theatre in České Budějovice, she prepared the 2018 original project Don G (involving both drama and opera ensembles) and directed Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila in 2022. She regularly collaborates with the Smetana Litomyšl Festival and co-founded the staggione at the Nové Hrady Castle, where she has presented numerous projects (e.g., Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, Rameau’s Pygmalion, and the 3x Ariadna cycle featuring works by Monteverdi, Benda, and Martinů). She also works with the Český Krumlov Chamber Music Festival and the ensemble Musica Florea, for whom she has staged several Baroque operas. Since 2015, she has been deeply committed to teaching. Working with conservatory students, she has staged numerous productions at the Divadlo Na Rejdišti in Prague and the Small Stage of the J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň. She currently teaches Stage Practice at the Academy of Performing Arts (HAMU) and Opera Directing at JAMU. Between 2015 and 2019, she also served as a host for the program Noční Mikrofórum on the Czech Radio.

Photo: Marek Olbrzymek