Janko Blaho (Tenor) (Skalica, Slovakia September 15, 1901 - Bratislava, Slovakia April 24, 1981)

He began studying law at the University of Prague, which he graduated and received a Dr. jur. doctorate. He trained his voice by Ms. Ch. Morfová in Prague and later continued his education in Milan. In 1926 he made his debut at the Bratislava Opera House (Pressburg) as Alfredo in ‘’La Traviata’’ and then from 1927 to 1955 he was one of the leading members of this opera house, where he appeared on stage in more than a hundred roles. His guest appearances at the National Opera Bucharest, at the Volksoper Vienna and at the Prague National Opera, were very successful. In addition to his work on the opera stage, he developed a second career as a concert singer, whose repertoire included Beethoven's 9th symphony, ‘’La Damnation de Faust’’ by H. Berlioz, Stabat mater and the requiem by A. Dvorák. In 1957 he undertook a glamorous concert tour through China. From the 1950s until 1973 he worked as a teacher at the Music Academy in Bratislava. His operatic repertoire included Duke in ‘’Rigoletto’’, Riccardo in ‘’Ballo in maschera’’, Rodolfo in ‘’La Bohème’’, Cavaradossi in ‘’Tosca’’, Don Ottavio in ‘’Don Giovanni’’, Pinkerton in ‘’Madama Butterfly’’, Schuiski in ‘’Boris Godunov’’, Don Jose in ’’Carmen’’, Hans in B. Smetana's ‘’The Bartered Bride’’, Luke in ‘’Tajemstvì’’ and Podhajsky in ‘’Dve vdovy’’.