Gabriela Beňačková Gabriela Beňačková Gabriela Beňačková (also "Gabriela Beňačková-Čápová"), born March 25, 1947 in Bratislava, is a Czech lyric soprano of Slovak origin. Beňačková specializes in the music of her Slovak compatriots, particularly Eugen Suchoň, as well as Czech composers, notably Bedřich Smetana, Antonín Dvořák and Leoš Janáček. She is considered to be one of the greatest 'Jenůfa's' in Janáček's opera of the same name. Her Carnegie Hall performance, and subsequent Metropolitan Opera run with Leonie Rysanek, are considered to be legendary. In 1981, Czechoslovakian television starred Ms Beňačková in a definitive version of "Prodaná nevěsta" (The Bartered Bride) by Bedřich Smetana,
The Bartered Bride commented that despite the colour and vigour of the music, there is little by way of characterisation, except in the cases of Kecal and, to a lesser extent, the loving pair and the unfortunate Vašek. The two sets of parents and the various circus folk are all conventional and "penny-plain" figures. In contrast, Kecal's character – that of a self-important, pig-headed, loquacious bungler – is instantly established by his rapid-patter music. Large suggests that the character may have been modelled on that of the boastful Baron in Cimarosa's opera "Il matrimonio segreto". Mařenka's temperament is shown in vocal flourishes which