Czech soprano Kateřina Kněžíková, with her "darkly timbred yet crystalline soprano, highly emotional, shining from within" (Onlinemerker) "especially moving, warmly romantic with a burnished tone" (The Classic Review), has drawn superlative praise for her "willowy, seductive voice and natural interpretative skill, drawn straight from the heart, always in full technical control but with a timbre that, enlivened by seductive vibrato, is ideally soft and warm." (Gramophone Magazine)
A long-time resident artist at the Prague National Opera, and one of the most sought-after singers in her native Czech Republic. Her roles include Dvořák's Rusalka, Smetana's Libuše, Janáček's Vixen, and Jenůfa, Puccini's Mimì, and Mozart's Donna Elvira, Contessa and Fiordiligi.
This season's highlights include Mahler's Symphony No.2 with Vasily Petrenko in Bucharest, and her debut in Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic, and her return to Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Káťa Kabanová, a role she debuted there in 2021.
Kateřina's core symphonic repertoire includes Janáček's Glagolitic Mass, Svatá Ludmila, Stabat Mater and Te Deum, Martinů's Epic of Gilgamesh, Brahms' German Requiem, and works by Beethoven, Mahler and Mozart. She is a dedicated performer of orchestral songs. She has appeared as a guest soloist with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Wiener Symphoniker, Bamberger Symphoniker, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, London Philharmonic Orchestra, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, HR-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and Camerata Salzburg, with renowned conductors, including Jiří Bělohlávek, Manfred Honeck, John Nelson, Karina Canellakis, Jonathan Nott, Serge Baudo, Semyon Bychkov, Jakub Hrůša, Domingo Hindoyan, Robin Ticciati, Oksana Lyniv, James Gaffigan, and Tomáš Netopil.
She released her newest recording 'Tag und Nacht' on Supraphon, combining Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra with selected lieder, accompanied on the piano by Jakub Hrůša. In 2021, she released her first solo album "Phidylé" on the Supraphon label which was named as Editor's Choice and The Best Classical Albums of 2021 in Gramophone Magazine and won the prestigious BBC Magazine Music "Vocal" Award category in 2022. Her discography also includes recordings for Decca Classics, Supraphon, Opus Arte, and Radioservis.
In December 2024, she made a successful debut with the Czech Philharmonic under the baton of Semyon Bychkov at Carnegie Hall.