Vilém Přibyl

Vilém Přibyl was an electrical engineer who loved to sing, and eventually took voice lessons. In Hradec Králové, where he worked, there was a very active amateur troupe that performed operas all over east Bohemia; Přibyl joined that troupe in 1952, singing many tenor main parts over the next few years, of course while continuing to work as an engineer. Only in 1959, he decided to be a full-time singer; his professional debut took place as Lukáš in Hubička, in Ústí nad Labem, where he stayed for two seasons. Then he came to the Janáček Theater in Brno, whose member he was to be for the rest of his career.

As a guest, he sang very regularly at the National Theater in Prague, and with that troupe, he appeared at the 1964 Edinburgh Festival as Dalibor (one of his signature roles, together with Laca, and with Manolios in Martinů's Greek passion). It was a huge success for Přibyl, and the start to a long series of international guest performances, among others at Covent Garden (1966 and 1967), the Salzburg Festival (1971), in Berlin, Hamburg or Amsterdam. A stroke put an end to Přibyl's career in 1985.

Reference 1, reference 2, reference 3, reference 4: Kutsch & Riemens