Jana Jonášová with Bendlová and then at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague with Teodor Šrubař. She made her professional opera debut in 1965 at the Liberec Theatre as Konstanze in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "The Abduction from the Seraglio". That same year she became involved with the Chamber Opera Prague. She remained committed to the Liberec Theatre through 1970 and then joined the National Theatre in Prague where she initially sang minor roles and worked in the opera chorus. In 1973 Jonášová was promoted to principal sopranos at the National Theatre and she quickly became one of the house's most important
Ileana Cotrubaș study at the "Școala Specială de Muzică" school for the musically gifted. Cotrubaș made her stage debut with the Bucharest Opera as Yniold in Debussy's "Pelléas et Mélisande" in 1964. She subsequently expanded her repertory to include roles such as Oscar in "Un ballo in maschera", Gilda in "Rigoletto", and Blondchen in "The Abduction from the Seraglio" and began appearing in productions throughout Europe. In 1965, Cotrubaș won an important competition in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands where she won first prize in opera, lieder, and oratorio. The following year, she won a radio-television competition in Munich. Those awards, together with her great