Adolf Čech

Adolf Čech (11 December 1841 – 27 December 1903) was a Czech conductor, who premiered a number of significant works by Antonín Dvořák (the 2nd, 5th and 6th symphonies, more than any other conductor; other important orchestral works, four operas, the Stabat Mater), Bedřich Smetana (Má vlast, five operas), Zdeněk Fibich (two operas) and other Czech composers. He also led the first performances outside Russia of two operas by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and the Czech premieres of seven operettas by Jacques Offenbach. He was also a bass singer and a translator of opera librettos.

Career

Adolf Čech was born in Sedlec-Prčice, south of Prague as Adolf Jan Antonin Tausik, the son of a singing instructor. His brother was the singer Karel Čech. He trained as an engineer in Prague before turning to music. From 1862 he was choirmaster and assistant conductor at the Provisional Theatre, where he conducted operas such as Verdi's Il trovatore, Donizetti's Belisario, Rossini's Otello, Lortzing's Zar und Zimmermann (Tsar and Carpenter), Meyerbeer's Dinorah, and Flotow's Martha and Alessandro Stradella. From 1862 to 1866 he also appeared as a bass singer in smaller solo roles such as Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville, Méru in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots, Pedro in Conradin Kreutzer's Das Nachtlager in Granada, and Ruiz in Verdi's Il trovatore. In 1864 he made a Czech translation of Eugène Scribe's libretto for Halévy's opera La Juive, and led the Czech premiere of Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld.