Women's Portraits

Inge Švandová-Koutecká

A lively, dynamic and exceptional woman. The first lady of the Czech opera direction, opera singer, costume designer and excellent teacher. A jubilee who has celebrated unbelievable 75^th birthday this year.

Mrs. Inge,

You spent your childhood in an artistic family with your mother, academic painter with musical talent and your father, academic architect with love for opera, theatre, violin and piano play. Your father wanted you to be an architect; he took you for walks to learn to know the Prague architecture while your mother wished you to become a physician. Your family environment full of relatives and famous musicians and artists impressed you strongly. You learned to play piano and sing since your childhood and wished to become a singer.

The first life success

Yes, I experienced my first singer success on the stage of a puppet theatre where I sang and got a beautiful doll. I experienced another success at a school trip. My singing in a dripstone cave had such a success that even newspapers wrote about it. I was decided to enrol for study of singing at a conservatory. But unexpected events entered my life. The war began! I fell seriously ill with tuberculosis and hepatitis from staying in shelters and spent more than half a year in a hospital. I finished the junior high school in the country.

After returning to Prague I studied at the grammar school and, against my parents’ will, “behind their backs”, I passed the entrance examination to the conservatory. My parents did not talk to me for a week and I had to stay at my friends’. Only when I was admitted to regular study of singing at the Academy of Music Arts (AMU), my parents became reconciled with my choice. I added opera direction to singing and visited lectures of stage and costume design from my own interest. The apple did not fall far from the tree.

Life in the theatre

My professional career started even before I had time to defend my doctoral thesis. In 1960 I got an offer to work as guest in the South Bohemian Theatre of České Budějovice. After my first successful directions I became opera director, the first and only director engaged in Czechoslovakia at that time! I left Prague with a heavy heart because my mother was very ill already and my father had lost work for political reasons. I took the advice of my teacher who had told me: “Although you have success in Prague, if you stay here you will only bring caffee to older directors while you can learn a lot outside.”

In 1965, Vlastimil Koutecký, academic architect, was engaged as new chief of stage setting in the South Bohemian Theatre. He was to “make” the first opera with me and refused it strictly, arguing that he would not prepare an opera in a new theatre when he had had dramatic practice, and with a woman on top of that! I was very angry. I told to me that I would show him, that he would pay me for that even if I should marry him! When we made our second opera, he did not protest any more. “Šárka” was a success; we even got the Literary Fund Award for it. Our work brought us closer together and our successful working team became a partner team too. We married a year later and created in the theatre full 11 years. We cooperated with a number of excellent musical directors, musicians, artists and singers and applied a number of innovation direction acts here. Our directions prepared for the Revolving Auditorium and Castle Baroque Theatre of Český Krumlov were exceptional.

Twenty further successful direction years

We left České Budějovice for Pilsen and continued our successful direction work in the local theatre until 1991. The twenty years spent in Pilsen ranked among the most significant years in my life. It was the period of my maturing, completing my artistic opinion and finishing of creation of my own direction line. I understood the wise words of my teacher and the message that every artist must find his or her own path and way to fulfil the relevant goal.

I accepted work in opera theatres in our country and abroad, I worked in the National Theatre of Prague, in the Musical Theatre of Karlín, Janáček Theatre in Brno, but also in the Hoftheater Meiningen, Tbilisi Opera and natural amphitheatre of Suhl. I got significant awards for my direction work: the honorary title “Meritorious Artist”, “Bedřich Smetana Medal” for propagation of his work, “Commemorative Medal of the Town of České Budějovice”, “Max Reger Commemorative Medal” in Meiningen, “Zachariy Paliashvili Medal” from the minister of culture of the Republic of Georgia and the South Bohemian “Thalia” in 2004 for my lifelong work. Several times I also received the award of the Czech Literary Fund and the Association of Dramatic Artists of the Czech Republic.

From among the 188 successful productions I directed, “Daisi”, the Georgian composer Paliashvili’s opera is worth mentioning. It was selected for staging at the occasion of strengthening of cultural cooperation with the states of the Soviet Union of that time. Suddenly a message came to Pilsen that the libretto of the opera would be brought by the Georgian representative. I absolutely did not anticipate what I could expect! My husband and I started studying the Georgian popular customs, folklore, art sources, literature and then the opera itself. Our effort was crowned with great success both in Pilsen and in Tbilisi. The local museum has been exhibiting our stage and costume designs until today.

The Pilsen “direction” period was happy; it strengthened our marriage and our artistic efforts. My husband, Architect Koutecký, was an honest man both in life and on theatre stage. He never did things to spite anybody in order to make himself visible at the expense of the work. He was a firm and universal help to me until his death in 2000.

In 1991 I got an offer to work as guest in the Silesian Theatre of Opava. I became the opera chief in a period when the theatre struggled for its existence and I stayed there until 1995.

Costume design

I displayed artistic talent in my childhood already; I had the best conditions for its development at school and particularly, after having married, when I worked with Architect Koutecký. I started dealing with costume design and I enjoy it even now! After having terminated my work in the theatre I designed costumes for theatre performances implemented at the Rožmberk Castle, as well as a number of illustrations for the Rožmberk jubilee calendar. I directed the “Festival of Quinquefoil Rose” of Český Krumlov first with my husband, later by myself.

Teaching activity

I was engaged also in teaching activity from the Seventieths. I taught solo singing and acting at the Academy of Music Arts in Prague. I founded the Opera Studio in Pilsen and in České Budějovice. I acted as teacher at the conservatory of Pilsen and of České Budějovice. I taught the subjects of stage costumes and history of the theatre at the Secondary School of Decorative Arts of Český Krumlov. I have a lot of pupils and I am happy about the fact that many of them like to remember me. I am teaching privately several pupils and friends even today.

The interview with Mrs. Inge, made in the atmosphere of her apartment and home full of family portraits, beautiful pictures, costume designs and stage models impressed me strongly. Cats, beloved pets of the lady of the house, walked inaudibly through the apartment and looked nobly as if set there by a good interior designer. I spent unforgettable moments when Mrs. Inge sat down at the piano and played and sang passages from the operas she had directed. She let her drift by the music.

At my question what life gave her and took away from her, Mrs. Inge answered:

“When I had thirty-three curtain calls and the actors left the stage so that it belonged only to me, I experienced indescribable happiness, satisfaction for everything and drew strength for further work. My biggest and irreplaceable loss is the loss of my life partner.”

The part devoted to memories ends and life flows further in hope. I am looking forward to our next meeting now already.

Blanka Laudová