Dominika Škrabalová, an emerging Czech mezzosoprano, performs on the Czech and German stages. Her key roles at the moment are Bizet’s Carmen, Rossini’s Rosina, Janáček’s Fox or Mrs.mSmith in the Bald Soprano by Luciano Chailly. 

 

Recently she has debuted in the National Theater in Prague (CZ) as Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia). Dominika spent the last two seasons as a member of the Semperoper Junges Ensemble. This season she performs there as a guest in three productions. As the above mentioned Mrs. Smith, triple role in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges and as Hannah – one of the main characters in the premiere of the contemporaray opera As One by Laura Kaminsky. She performed there for example also as Zweite Dame (Zauberflöte), Tebaldo (Don Carlo), Lucienne (Die Tote Stadt), Vivienne (humanoid) or Dienerin/Kinderstimme (Frau ohne Schatten) under the baton of Christian Thielemann.

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German audience also saw her as the Fox (The Cunning Little Vixen) in Theater Magdeburg and Staatstheater Mainz. She made her role debut as Carmen in the Silesian Theatre in Opava (CZ) where she also created Maddalena (Rigoletto). In summer 2024 Dominika sang Rosina at the Opernspiele Munot in Schaffhausen (CH). She cooperates with the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre in Ostrava (CZ) which is connected to the beginnings of her operatic path. Currently she can be seen there as the Fox, Háta (The Bartered Bride) and Marie (Moses and Pharaoh). She also created there characters as Purcell’s Dido, Venere in Monteverdi’s Il ballo delle ingrate, Contralto in Johnson’s Four-Note Opera, Carlotta in Salieri’s La scuola de’ gelosi and others. 

 

So far, her last competitive success was the Main Prize at the International Competition Opernspiele Munot in Switzerland. Dominika is also a Laureate of the competition Jeunesses Musicales held by Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava (CZ). She won the 2nd Prize at the Antonin Dvorak’s International Singing Competition in Carlsbad (CZ). She also gained there a Special Prize of Jarmila Novotná for the most succesful Czech female participant, Special Prize of Antonín Dvořák for the best performance of Dvořák’s aria (Ježibaba from Rusalka), Special Prize of the Carlsbad Symphony Orchestra and Special Prize of Gustav Mahler.

 

Dominika often performs with an excellent Czech pianist Lukáš Michel. They performed at various international musical festivals as St. Wenceslas Music Festival (CZ), Young Prague (CZ) or The Music of Thousands (CZ) besides many other concerts.

 

Nevertheless, Dominika took some detours on her way to a big stage. She grew up as a choral child in Permoník Choir Karviná (CZ). With the choir she sang at the vibrant places, among them Alice Tully Hall, Sydney Opera House or Carnegie Hall. After the grammar school she studied international relations together with journalism and then worked in a public service Czech Radio. Yet her passion for music won and she graduated from the University of Ostrava (CZ) in 2021 in a class of Eliška Pappová, singer of a great renomé in former Czechoslovakia. In June 2021 she participated in the course led by Margreet Honig which continued to a subsequent fruitful cooperation.

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While studying, she also worked as a vocal pedagogist at the Bedřich Smetana School of Arts in Karviná that she had attended herself for many years as a child. Besides that she led the Male Chamber Choir Permoník as a choirmaster. The choir won three golden prizes under her leadership, including grand prix (Spain, Poland, Georgia). 

 

All this experience forms a way how Dominika approaches music and results in her unique stage presence which is recognized by audience as well as by critics.

 

 

“The aria of Vivienne accompanied in a dramatic musical-like style, which reveals the fact of being a humanoid, belongs to the crucial moments on stage – and thanks to meticulous acting as well as to the technically compact voice of an appealing colour owned by mezzosoprano Dominika Škrabalová it also belonged to the most intense moments of the performance that evening.“

    Michaela Mojžíšová, Opera Slovakia (humanoid, Semperoper)

 

“For the chosen way of staging, acting itself was crucial […] That was mastered especially by Lada Bočková and Dominika Škrabalová as the Vixen and the Fox. Youthfully coy and sincere wooing was moving to tears as well as the dialogue of the already married couple, still in love, with bunch of their cubs around, ended by a Harašta’s shot. Both soloists spread their temperament and joy –   together with a brilliant vocal performance.“        Helena Havlíková, Opera plus (The Cunning Little Vixen, National Moravian-Silesian Theatre)

 

“Beautifuly fluent gestures, eyes slightly squinted and lyrically resonating tune, Dominika Škrabalová presented all of this absolutely transparently […] Even without the costume and props she captivated the audience in Jihlava with her perfectly controled lyric voice and pure concert interpretation.“    Jana Součková, Klasika plus (Lieder Abend, The Music of Thousands)

 

“Dominika hat eine ganz große Opernstimme, die jedes Opernhaus füllen kann. Dazu sehr gute Bühnenpräsenz: Eine Stimme, der man besonders gerne zuhört. Sie hat Potenzial für Alles, in höchster Liga!“    Reinhard Müller, Südkurier (Concert in Konstanz)

 

“[…] the young mezzosoprano really is an extraordinary singing and acting discovery. Škrabalová has a significant personal aura, before she even started to sing she had managed to gain a maximum attention by her concentrated calmness and focus.“

    Milan Bátor, Ostravan.cz (The Laureates’ Concert Jeuenesses Musicales)

 

“Dido […] was sung by Dominika Škrabalová, who had an opportunity to develop her rich and rounded mezzosoprano voice, show the precise coloraturas and also stayed true to the style.“ 

    Karla  Hoffmanová, Klasika plus (Dido and Aeneas, National Moravian-Silesian Theatre)

 

“The Czech mezzo Dominika Škrabalová, a gifted comedienne, almost stole the show as ‘Kastelánka’ (the Castle Guardian).“

    Mirka Zemanová, OperaNow (The Lord in White, National Moravian-Silesian Theatre)