Anna Dvořáková

Anna Dvořáková (née Čermáková; 17 June 1854 – 14 July 1931) was a Czech contralto singer and violist. She was a student and the wife of the composer Antonín Dvořák.

Life

Anna Čermáková was born on 17 June 1854 in Prague. She was the younger sister of the actress Josefína Čermáková-Kounicová.

On 17 November 1873, Antonín Dvořák and Anna Čermáková married.[2] They had nine children, of whom the first three died in infancy.[3] The children were: Otakar (1874–1877), Josefa (1875–1875), Růžena (1876–1877), Otýlie (1878–1905), Anna (1880–1923), Magdalena (1881–1952), Antonín (1883–1956), Otakar (1885–1961) and Aloisie (1888–1967).[4] In 1898 Otýlie, a composer in her own right, married Dvorak's student, the composer Josef Suk, but died of a heart condition only seven years later.[3]

From 1880, she sang in a Russian church in Prague, and sang Antonín Dvořák's cantatas in concerts, especially solos in his Stabat mater, and a solo in his Requiem.

She also travelled with her husband, and in 1892–1895, they lived with part of their family in New York.[5] In later life, Otakar wrote in his book "Antonin Dvorak, My Father", that it had been Anna who had persuaded Antonin to take on the appointment in the United States, in particular for financial reasons. She had even held a family vote one meal-time, and delivered the signed contract to the post-office herself.[6]

Dvořáková died on 14 July 1931 in Vysoká u Příbramě.

References

  1. ^ Burghauser 2006, p. 82 "Dvořákova rodina s přáteli na dvoře domu v New Yorku v roce 1893 [zleva manželka Anna, syn Antonín, Sadie Siebertová, Josef Jan Kovařík, matka Sadie Siebertové, dcera Otilie, Antonín Dvořák"]
  2. ^ "Archivní katalog". katalog.ahmp.cz, pragapublica. p. 123. Retrieved 23 October 2025. Registry entry for Marriage (top left)
  3. ^ a b Eleanor Kelly (2021-01-07). "Otilie Suková (1878-1905)". Donne Foundation. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
  4. ^ Dvořák, Otakar (2004). Můj otec Antonín Dvořák [My father Antonín Dvořák] (1st ed.). Příbram: Knihovna Jana Drdy. ISBN 978-80-86240-78-7. OCLC 56724472.
  5. ^ "Dvořák's family". Classic FM. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
  6. ^ Cooper, Michael (23 August 2013). "The Deal that Brought Dvorak to New York". The New York Times..

Further reading

  • Dvořák, Otakar; Polansky, Paul; Němec, Miroslav (1993). Antonín Dvořák, my father. Spillville, Iowa: Czech Historical Research Center. ISBN 9780963673404.
  • Burghauser, Jarmil (2006). Antonín Dvořák (in Czech). Prague: Bärenreiter Supraphon; Koniasch Latin Press. ISBN 978-80-86791-26-5.
  • Beveridge, David R. (2012). Zdenka a Josef Hlávkovi – Anna a Antonín Dvořákovi: přátelství dvou manželských párů a jeho plody v českém a světovém umění (in Czech). Prague: Národohospodářský ústav Josefa Hlávky. ISBN 978-80-86729-82-4.
  • Šourek, Otakar (1943). Dvořákovy symfonie (in Czech). Prague: Hudební matice Umělecké besedy. pp. 21, 132, 133.
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