The superb soprano Simona Šaturova is hailed by critics as “nothing short of a Mozart miracle”. In Prague, she is famous for her roles at the National Theatre; she’s also been a guest of the Nachtigall Artists concerts. In December 2016 we admired her art alongside the Polish baritone Mariusz Kwiecień. This time, her concert partner will be a tenor – Atalla Ayan from Brazil. He performed at the Nachtigall Artists concert in October 2013 alongside the star of Angelou Gheorghiu. The review in Hudební rozhledy (HR 1/2014) wrote „Atalla Ayan was an equal stage partner to Gheorghiu and manifested that his vocal abilities have a great future.” This “prophecy” came true; the young Brazilian today performs at such upfront opera houses as Covent Garden in London (this season as Rodolfo in La bohème), Bavarian State Opera in Munich, La Scala Milan, Paris National Opera, etc. In July 2011, he performed at the Metropolitan Opera concerts in Central Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park; the review at New York Times compared his voice to “young Plácido Domingo”. Atalla Ayan returned to Met in the spring of 2017 as Alfredo (La traviata) and Christian (Cyrano de Bergerac).

Simona Houda-Šaturová is a sought-after interpreter of Mozart repertoire, as well as the repertoire of the Italian Bel canto. She is also an esteemed concert singer. Concerts and opera productions took her to Semperoper in Dresden, Theater an der Wien, Teatro Colón Buenos Aires, Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Frankfurt Opera, Megaron Concert Hall in Athens, Carnegie Hall, Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, Tonhalle Zürich, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Herkules-Saal in Munich, and to festivals in Salzburg, Edinburg and Lucerne. Simona is a frequent guest of Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, Aalto Theater in Essen, as well as the National Theatre in Prague.