Education
She completed her farewell recital tour in 2008.
She completed her farewell recital tour in 2008.
She specializes in the music of her compatriots, particularly Eugen Suchoň, as well as Czechoslovakian composers, notably Bedřich Smetana and Leoš Janáček. She is considered to be one of the greatest "Jenufa"s" in Janáček"s opera of the same name. Her Carnegie Hall performance (and subsequent Metropolitan Opera run with Leonie Rysanek) is considered to be legendary.
In 1981 Czechoslovakian television starred Mrs Benackova in a definitive version of Prodana Nevesta (The Bartered Bride), which has since become a popular Digital Video Disc recording available in an all-regions format(2006).
That recording teamed her with the heroic tenor (fellow Slovak) Peter Dvorsky, and with bass Richard Novak and other popular singers. She has made a number of recordings, and has appeared in several filmed operas on Digital Video Disc, as well as the feature film The Divine Emma, where she supplied the singing voice of the famous Czechoslovakian soprano Emmy Destinn.
Her voice can also be heard in the movie Driving Mission Daisy singing title role "Rusalka" by Dvořák, and in Copycat singing Puccini"s aria Vissi d"arte from the opera Tosca. She has appeared as Fidelio/Leonore in the Royal Opera House production of Fidelio (1991).
In 2012, she sang the difficult role of the Comtesse de la Roche, in Die Soldaten, at the Salzburg Festival, a production now on Digital Video Disc. She has made a beautiful recording in the title role Rusalka by Dvořák.
The conductor was Vaclav Neumann.