Czech soprano Kateřina Kněžíková, with her "darkly timbred yet crystalline soprano, highly emotional, shining from within" (Onlinemerker), "especially moving, warmly romantic with a burnished tone" (The Classic Review), has drawn superlative praise for her "willowy, seductive voice and natural interpretative skill, drawn straight from the heart, always in full technical control but with a timbre that, enlivened by seductive vibrato, is ideally soft and warm" (Gramophone Magazine).
A long-time resident artist at the Prague National Opera, and one of the most sought-after singers in her native Czech Republic, she appears regularly with all the Czech and Slovakian opera houses, and further afield at La Monnaie Brussels, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Opéra de Dijon, and many others. With a strong background in baroque and Classical repertoire (including Handel’s "Almirena", Aristea in Mysliveček’s "L‘Olimpiade", and Mozart’s Susanna, Ilia, Contessa, Vitellia and Pamina), and Italianate roles including Verdi’s Gilda and Nannetta, Adina (Donizetti: "L’elisir d‘amore") and Rosina in Rossini‘s "Il barbiere di Siviglia", she has developed naturally into the lyric repertoire, notably as Rusalka (Dvořák), Mařenka (Smetana’s "The Bartered Bride"), Martinů’s Julietta and Mirandolina, Barče (Smetana: "The Kiss"), Terinka (Dvořák: "The Jacobin"), and Gounod’s Marguerite.
Her 2025/26 season was launched with a triumphant return to Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Káťa Kabanová, a role she debuted there in 2021, and her debut at the Royal Ballet and Opera in London, as soloist in Dvořák's "The Spectre’s Bride" at Jakub Hrůša's inaugural concert, repeated at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, and she then performed a series of recitals of Dvořák's song repertoire as guest curator of the Dvořák Prague Festival. She will debut with the RTVE Symphony Orchestra in Madrid, performing Brahms’ "A German Requiem", and will be featured in the Vienna Symphony’s Adventskonzert at the city’s Stephansdom under Petr Popelka, return to the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra (Mahler: Symphony No. 2), and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra (Dvořák: Stabat Mater). On the operatic stage, Kateřina Kněžíková will make her debuts as Verdi’s Desdemona in Otello at the Prague National Theatre, and as Hedwig in Bedřich Smetana’s "The Devil’s Wall" with the National Theatre Brno at the Janáček Theatre, sing Rusalka at the Nouvel Opéra Fribourg, and Donna Elvira, Mimi and Jenůfa at the Prague National Theatre, and perform in the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum at the opening concert of the 91st season of the Prague Philharmonic Choir in Stravinsky's "Les Noces".
Past season’s highlights include her US debut at New York’s legendary Carnegie Hall, singing the soprano role in Janáček's "Glagolitic Mass" with the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov, her role debut as Janáček's Jenůfa at the Prague National Opera, and the release of her newest solo recording "Tag und Nacht" on Supraphon, combining Richard Strauss’s "Four Last Songs" with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra with selected lieder, accompanied on the piano by Jakub Hrůša. She sang Honegger’s "Le Roi David" with Lukáš Vasilek and the Prague Philharmonia at the Litomysl Festival, and returned to signature roles with the Prague National Opera including Fiordiligi in "Così fan tutte", Donna Elvira in "Don Giovanni", Mimì in "La bohème", and Micaela in "Carmen", and guest appearances as Fiordiligi and Janáček's Vixen at the National Opera of Brno. On the concert stage she sang Duparc songs with Robert Jindra and the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, Martinů's "Magical Nights" and Rachmaninov Romances at the Prague Opera, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Vasily Petrenko and the George Enescu Philharmonic in Bucharest, and Robert Kruzik and the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic in Zlin, and her debut in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic at the Prague Spring Festival.
In the 2023/24 season she took the title role in the Prague State Opera’s new production of "Rusalka", and made role debuts in the iconic title role of Smetana’s "Libuse", and as the Fox in Janacek’s "Cunning Little Vixen" in concert with the Czech Philharmonic under Jakub Hrůša. Kateřina Kněžíková's core symphonic repertoire includes Janáček’s "Glagolitic Mass", Dvořák’s Requiem ("sympathetic soprano Kněžíková rose to the biggest challenges – lyric, limpid but always capable of projecting above large forces…" [The ArtsDesk]), Dvořák's oratorio "Svatá Ludmila", Stabat Mater and Te Deum, Martinů’s Epic of Gilgamesh, Brahms’ "A German Requiem", and works by Beethoven, Mahler and Mozart. She is a dedicated performer of orchestral songs, ranging from Mahler’s "Des Knaben Wunderhorn", Strauss’ "Four Last Songs", Ravel’s "Shéhérazade", Martinů’s "Magic Nights" and songs by Duparc, Schubert and Brahms.
She has appeared as a guest soloist with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Wiener Symphoniker, Bamberger Symphoniker, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, London Philharmonic Orchestra, National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, ORF Radio- Symphonieorchester Wien, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, hr-Sinfonieorchester in Frankfurt, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, and Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria, with renowned conductors, including Jiří Bělohlávek, Manfred Honeck, John Nelson, Karina Canellakis, Jonathan Nott, Serge Baudo, Jakub Hrůša, Domingo Hindoyan, Robin Ticciati, Oksana Lyniv, James Gaffigan, and Tomáš Netopil.
Her recitals featuring songs by Janáček, Dvořák, Martinů, Ravel, Debussy, Fauré, Liszt, Schubert, and Schumann have been praised by audiences and critics alike. In 2021, she released her first solo album "Phidylé" on the Supraphon label which was named as Editor’s Choice and The Best Classical Albums of 2021 in Gramophone Magazine and won the prestigious BBC Magazine Music "Vocal" Award category in 2022. Her discography also includes Dvořák's Te Deum with the Czech Philharmonic and Jakub Hrůša for Decca Classics, Martinů's "Bouquet of Flowers", Stravinsky’s "Les Noces" and Richter’s "La Deposizione dalla croce di Gesù Cristo", and a duo recital of Smetana and Dvořák arias and duets with baritone Adam Plachetka for Supraphon, and Donna Elvira in Mozart’s "Don Giovanni" for Opus Arte DVD, as well as solo recital discs with pianist David Svec and harpist Kateřina Englichová for Radioservis.