Soňa Červená

Soňa Červená (9 September 1925 – 7 May 2023) was a Czech operatic mezzo-soprano, actress and writer. She had an international career as a singer from the 1950s, first at the Berlin State Opera in East Berlin and from 1962 in the West, mainly at the Oper Frankfurt and the San Francisco Opera. She was known for Bizet's Carmen, her signature role, and the title role in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, but also performed in world premieres, and promoted Leoš Janáček's operas in Czech.

After her singing career, she turned to acting at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg where she worked with Robert Wilson. After the fall of the Iron Curtain she returned as a guest to her home country, starring as Emilia Marty in a Wilson production of The Makropulos Case at the National Theatre in Prague. She wrote an autobiography, and a biography of her great-grandfather, Václav František Červený, who was a notable brass instrument maker.