Ivo Zidek

Born: 4 June, 1926, in Czechoslovakia

Died: 19 May, 2003, in Prague, aged 76

BEFORE Lord Harewood brought the Prague Opera to the Edinburgh Festival in 1964, the music of Smetana and Janacek was rarely heard outside their native Czechoslovakia: certainly the operas of the latter were unknown.

The performances at the King’s Theatre that year introduced a whole genre of music and drama to western audiences - and Ivo Zidek was one of the stars of those memorable events.

After studying singing, Zidek joined the National Theatre in Prague and by 1947 was singing the leading role of Jenik in The Bartered Bride - a role he was to assume more than 500 times. In the 1950s, he made debuts in Germany and Vienna, but Zidek was happiest in Prague where his agile and ringing tenor voice was heard to best effect. He did sing in operas by Mozart and Wagner but his enviable reputation was built on the work of Janacek, especially in operas such as Jenufa, The Makropulos Case and The Excursions of Mr Broucek.

When George Harewood planned a Czech theme for the 1964 Festival, he booked the Prague Opera as its centrepiece. British premieres abounded and it is thought Harewood and the agent Lies Askonas took a personal interest in much of the casting. Zidek was an integral part of it all, and he sang memorably in both Rusalka and From the House of the Dead.

The visit was an undoubted triumph, and not only musically. The sets (and thrilling lighting) by Joseph Svoboda, and the hugely imaginative direction of Vaclav Kaslik made a tremendous impact.

Harewood has since written that there was "a freshness and co-operative dedication about the performances which made for a true Festival spirit".

Zidek was back in Edinburgh in 1970 when the company returned for a second visit. It was not quite the sensation of six years earlier, but there was a magical production of The Bartered Bride, with Zidek in glowing voice in the central role. He also shared the title role of Dalibor with Vilem Pribyl who, unlike Zidek, was to enjoy an international career after the Edinburgh visits.

Zidek preferred to stay in Prague where he sang regularly until 1985. In 1989 he joined Vaclav Havel on the balcony overlooking Wenceslas Square after the Velvet Revolution and led the jubilant crowds in the singing of the Czech national anthem. That same year, he returned to the opera company as administrator. It was a tough assignment as years of under-funding had left the Prague Opera somewhat at a low ebb.

Indeed, Frank Dunlop, during his time as Festival director, suggested to Zidek that the Czechs made a return visit to Edinburgh. Ever the canny musician, he replied to Dunlop most courteously but felt that standards in Prague had to improve before such an assignment could be undertaken.

Zidek is survived by his wife and their two sons.

ALASDAIR STEVEN