STYL ROZHOVOR
The Best Czech Musical Singer of 2022,
a Friend of Horses and an Adrenaline Enthusiast.
Hana Fialová is all This and Much More.
Marfusha, Fantine, Eliška Pomořanská, Evita or Edith Piaf. Do you know what these ladies have in
common? All of these femmes fatales have been unforgettably portrayed non the stage of the National
Moravian-Silesian Theatre by Hana Fialová, winner of the Jantar Award and two-time winner of the Thalia
Award. In a friendly, informal chat with Radúz Mácha, chairman of the editorial board of POSITIV magazine,
she shared a lot of interesting things about herself.
Hanka, you were born on May 1st. So you were
basically a May Day present for your parents. Do you
have any childhood memories of parade wands and
balloons in the May Day parades?
Yes, I really am a May Day present (laughs). My mother
told me that when the ambulance took her away, that
it was literally “in the last minute“. The parades were
everywhere and she got to the maternity ward at the last
very moment. Of course, I remember the wands. I thought
that May Day and the parade with the wands and balloons
were for a celebration of my birthday. And I usually liked
going to the parade because I was such a little exhibitionist
from a young age. However, I do have a not so pleasant
memory of the wand. My sister and I used to make our
Dad angry, and he was quite strict. One time we got
beaten with the wand and not only was the “wand“ threecolored, our butts were as well.
How do you remember your beginnings as a singer?
Did you sing as a child, did you go to a singing group?
I used to sing all the time. I think I may have started singing
before I started talking. There is a recording where I‘m not
even three years old and I‘m singing a Czech song ‚Černé
oči, jděte spát‘ there. I remember that as a little kid I liked
to watch adult female singers on TV who used vibrato
when they sang, I loved to imitate that back then. Can you
imagine a three-year-old imitating her favorite singers?
Let‘s jump to 1986. I read that you were the winner
of the regional round of the Talent 86 singing
competition and made it to the national finals. How
do you recall that?
Yes, I was already studying at the conservatory then. I was
in the same round with Leona Machálková, who was not
as famous back then, and we became friends and even
shared a room together. At that time, I was first in the
regional round and that‘s why I qualified for the national
round. It was something like the Pop Idol. The entire final
with ten winners from all over the country was televised.
However, I didn‘t go there for personal reasons. I was in
love with a guy who had a weekend leave from the army
and I preferred to go to see him. I don‘t regret it.
Text: Barbora
Kubalová
Foto: Petr Hrubeš
Between 1994 and 2004 you were a solo singer of
Red Hats band - what did these 10 years give you?
I remember those years very fondly. The Red Hats were
a girl country band and fittingly we all wore red hats. I had
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some amazing adventures with these girls. We toured
Europe - we went to festivals in Italy, Poland and Germany.
We even had a separate 14 night tour in England. Also,
those years gave me quite a lot of practice in singing
because we aren‘t “locked“ into one genre. Country is
quite varied, it has elements of pop and swing. So it was
a pretty good school.
I may have started singing
“ I think
before I started talking.
”
Since 2003 you have been a member of the musical
ensemble of the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre.
Next year will be your jubilee, 20 years. How many
roles have you performed during that time?
I haven‘t counted, but about seven years ago my friend
David Velčovský, who worked as a producer at the time,
gave me a big poster as a gift where he listed all of my
roles so far. I was amazed at how many there were, I had
forgotten many of them.
In 2014, you won your first Thalia Award because you
literally shone in the musical drama Edith and Marlene
as Edith Piaf. This year, you won your second Thalia for
your role as Áda Harris in the musical Flowers for Mrs
Harris. What did these awards bring you?
Of course it brought me great joy, it‘s always about
emotions and surprises. It was even more of a surprise
the second time, I really didn‘t expect that, in the words
of the divine Karel (laughs). But besides the euphoria and
joy, it brings a certain responsibility. It‘s a commitment,
one that should always be working. With the first Thalia,
there was a period of time when I thought that the role
of Edith Piaf and the first Thalia didn‘t bring me anything
fulfilling. Fortunately, that period only lasted a short time
and I started to like Thalia and the role of Edith Piaf again.
The second time was really unexpected and I am very
happy about the award. It‘s a kind of glass confirmation
that it‘s all working and it makes sense.
Is there anything you haven‘t achieved in your
profession at this point? Any special wish or dream?
Of course, there are roles that I really like. I like to joke
sometimes about the role of Sally Bowles from the musical
Cabaret - I sing the theme song from the musical and
think to myself that‘s a role I‘ve never sung. I won‘t sing it