Gabriela Beà ÂaÃÂková also Gabriela Beà ÂaÃÂková-ÃÂápová (born 25 March 1944 or 1947) is a Slovak lyric soprano.
Beà ÂaÃÂková was born in Bratislava on 25 March in either 1944 or 1947. Her father AntonÃÂn was a lawyer, and her mother Elena was a housewife. She is the younger sister of television presenter Nora Beà ÂaÃÂková. In her young age she had been involved in ballet lessons, children's choir of Czechoslovak Radio, and learned singing and piano at school.
Beà ÂaÃÂková specializes in the music of her Slovak compatriots, particularly Eugen Suchoà Â, as well as Czech composers, notably Bedà Âich Smetana, AntonÃÂn Dvoà Âák and Leoà ¡ JanáÃÂek. She is considered to be one of the greatest 'Jenà ¯fa's' in JanáÃÂek'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, Czechoslovak Television starred Ms Beà ÂaÃÂková in a definitive version of Prodaná nevÃÂsta (The Bartered Bride) by Bedà Âich Smetana, which has since become a popular DVD recording available in an all-regions format (2006). That recording teamed her with the tenor (fellow Slovak) Peter Dvorský as JenÃÂk, and with bass Richard Novák as Kecal, and other popular singers. She completed her farewell recital tour in 2008.
She has made a number of recordings (including a beautiful recording in the title role of Rusalka by Dvoà Âák, conducted by Václav Neumann), and has appeared in several filmed operas on DVD, as well as the feature film The Divine Emma, where she supplied the singing voice of the famous Czech soprano Emmy Destinn. Her voice can also be heard in the movie Driving Miss Daisy singing title role in Rusalka by AntonÃÂn Dvoà Âák, and in Copycat singing Puccini's aria Vissi d'arte from the opera Tosca by Giacomo Puccini.
She appeared as Marguerite in the Vienna State Opera's production of Charles Gounod's Faust (1985), as well as Fidelio/Leonore in the Royal Opera House production of Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven (1991). Between 1991 and 1999 she had 39 appearances in New York's Metropolitan Opera, the last one as Desdemona in Otello by Giuseppe Verdi together with Plácido Domingo. In 2012, she sang the difficult role of the Comtesse de la Roche, in Die Soldaten, at the Salzburg Festival, a production now on DVD.