Reissue of Jarmila Novotná’s Memoirs

The Association of Chateau Liteň systematically focuses on Jarmila Novotná’s personality and on the Daubek family. One of the short term goals is the issue of a revised Third Edition of Jarmila Novotná’s memoirs.

The memorial work “Byla jsem šťastná” (I was happy) initially issued in 1991, depicts the personality of the Czech opera diva perfectly with its’ positive title. It won her great recognition after publishing.

Readers of the revised edition will be exposed immediately to the intriguing life story of Jarmila Novotná and her family, which due to historical circumstances was full of unexpected twists and turns. The book maps in depth her theatre career, which she started at age seventeen in the National Theatre as Mařenka in “The Bartered Bride”. Successes in Verona, Berlin, Vienna and Paris followed and culminated in the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where she performed for 16 seasons.

The book is an excellent source for a closer and more intimate understanding of who she is, was and what she did. It deals with the political situation, describes her face-to-face encounters with important artists and politicians.

The first and second press runs were completely sold out and thanks to our public enlightenment (festival, expositions, lectures, CD issue) the interest in this revised edition has increased dramatically. Many bonuses are included in this new issue. Among them are higher graphic quality, a list of both public and not-public recordings, a complete list of Jarmila Novotná’s opera and film roles and an English summary.

Guarantee of the book quality is RNDr. Jan Králík, CSc. who focuses professionally on Jarmila Novotná’s life and career, was involved extensively in assembling the book.