OFF THE WALL >
Dagmar Pecková, opera singer
Written by: Martin Zika
Art: Nenad Vitas

What did you want to be when you were a kid?
Helena Vondráčková. She was from the next village.

Who are your favorite fictional characters?
Three to four musketeers.

How do you get up in the morning?
Quickly. I have to take care of three children (the third child being my husband - at least in the morning).

Where would you like to spend a vacation?
Desires and wishes are one thing. The fact that I'm endlessly packing and unpacking my suitcases (not only for myself) gives me the chance at least to be able to "lock" myself at home during a vacation.

How do you imagine your ideal day?
To have the time to do everything I've resolved to do.

What's the best place to make love?
Risky...

What's your favorite insult?
The paper wouldn't print it.

The gift you would like to receive?
A body that is twenty years younger.

How would you like to die?
I really haven't thought about it too much. Why do you ask? Should I start thinking about it now?

What is your state of mind these days?
How do you call it when you are still trying to resolve two, three or four issues at the same time? My mind is just swimming along...

Your favorite saying?
Look before you leap. But I don't follow that. If I did, my life would be completely different.

What do you like in men and what do you despise?
I have learned to like everything about men. I realized that nature is a powerful force. I cannot interfere with the development of animal magnetism.

What do you like in women and what do you despise?
Organizational and leadership abilities, imperiousness and a slight inclination to history. This is what I recognize in myself. And this is exactly what I despise in other women.

If you had a dinner party, and could invite five people from any country and any period in history, who would they be and why?
Well, for example, princess Libuše. I am sure she would be proud of how far her nation has gotten. And perhaps Dvořák. Maybe it would end up that the master couldn't live without doing musicals. And do you think Jesus Christ would believe in my enthusiastic interpretation of the modesty of the Catholic church and its humble priests? Casanova - I would like to know if he would be able to prove that the rumors about him were not just infamous fabrications. And Tycho de Brahe would have to predict for me what I will go through in this life.

If you won the lottery and no longer had to work to earn a living, what vocation would you pursue?
Of course I would sing.

Do people like it when you sing with them at the campfire?
Have you ever seen an opera singer sing at a campfire?

Would you like to star in an action film?
And what would I play? A phantom?

Are you sometimes attracted by the idea of writing music critics - maybe under a pseudonym?
I wouldn't be able to do it to my colleagues. Unlike the critics, I know what it means to stand on the stage.

What do you like about yourself the most?
Endurance, energy, willfulness.

And what do you hate about yourself?
Veracity.

Do you think that it is better to say everything or not to know everything?
Specific situations bring specific behavior. The worst thing is to think that if no one said anything, no one would know anything...you are not so good at lying and evading, are you gentlemen.