She … sang with such high musical and artistic quality that a true heroine was made of Mozart's Konstanze. Her musical expression was refined … her movement on stage was flawless … (Fodor Géza, reviewing Adriana Kohútková in a performance of Die Entführung aus dem Serail in Budapest in 2002).

Karel Jernek's production of Puccini's Madam Butterfly, currently in repertoire at the Prague State Opera, is strong and compelling. It has a beautiful traditional set, featuring a quaint revolving cottage and charming footbridge, designed by Oldrich Šimácek, and picture-book Japanese costumes designed by Olga Filipi. The cast includes the Czech tenor Tomáš Cerný as a spineless Pinkerton, baritone Richard Haan as the tall and compassionate American Consul Sharpless, and the accomplished young mezzo-soprano Veronika Hajnová as an unfaltering Suzuki.

But the brightest star is, without doubt, the Slovakian soprano Adriana Kohútková. In the performance witnessed on 5 April 2011, she performed with consummate artistry, combining a sturdy, convincing and untiring bel canto with immaculate acting skills, faultless movement and a mesmerising stage presence.

Adriana Kohútková studied under Hana Štolfová-Bandová at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava before graduating to soloist at the Slovak National Theatre in 1993. Over the ensuing decade she impressed local audiences with many coloratura, lyric and dramatic soprano performances. Early outings included Violetta in La Traviata, the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor and Tatiana in Eugene Onegin.

Between 1996 and 2006 she was awarded three Slovak Literary Fund Prizes for her portrayals of Mélisande, the Queen of Shemakha and Tatiana. In 2005 she broke new ground with Armgard (Offenbach's Rhine Nymphs in Ljubljana), Rusalka (Prague) and made her operetta debut as Hana Glawari in The Merry Widow. The critic Vojtek Katalin witnessed this performance, hailing her as 'a true prima donna.'

Her performances have not been confined to Slovakia and the Czech Republic. In 1998 she appeared at the Grande Théâtre de Genève as Luiza in the Slovak National Theatre's production of Prokofiev's Betrothal in a Monastery. Other European performances include Olympia in The Tales of Hoffmann (Paris), Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Budapest), Marenka in The Bartered Bride (Trieste and Zurich), Violetta (Salzburg), Marie in La fille du regiment (Hamburg) and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (Trieste).

In 2004 she appeared as Violetta in the Slovak National Theatre's production of La Traviata in Japan, a performance which led to concerts with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in Tokyo and Rimini. She also appeared in Japan as Musetta in La bohème and sang the soprano role in Orff's Carmina Burana in Madrid in November 2005.

In addition to orchestras in Slovakia (the Philharmonic and Radio Symphony in particular), she has appeared with the Suisse Romande and Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra. Her discography includes the Blue Fairy and Nightingale in Respighi's La Bella Dormente nel Bosco (1994), the title role in the world premier recording of Chabrier's Gwendoline (1996), Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream music (1998) and Dvorak's Stabat Mater (2002).

Her repertoire is impressive. Current roles range from Bizet (Micaela) to Verdi (Gilda and Violetta) via Donizetti (Adina, Marie and Lucrezia), Janacek (Bystrouška), Leoncavallo (Nedda) and Smetana (Marenka) plus works already mentioned. A career total so far of twenty-eight operas.

Not that Adriana Kohútková is limited to the theatre. Concert works vary from Bach (St John Passion) to Penderecki (Credo) and include Berlioz's L'enfance du Christ, Gounod's Petite messe solennelle, Janacek's Glagolithic Mass and Rachmaninov's Bells. In requiems alone she has performed settings by Brahms, Dvorak, Faure, Mozart, Verdi and Lloyd-Webber. Forty-three concert works in total.

Critics agree that Adriana Kohútková possesses a big voice: strong, agile, cultured and commanding. MusicalAmerica.com has described it as 'hefty but tightly controlled … plumy and gorgeous … large, creamy [and] supple;' DerPunktKultur as 'golden [and] glittering'; and Opernglas as 'strong, full [and] blooming'. Reviewing her performance of Rusalka at the Prague State Opera in May 2005, Slovenské Dotyky praised her 'thought-out, dynamically sensitive mastery of the role' and hailed her 'without doubt one of today's most perfect interpreters of this role.'

Her calendar for May and June 2011 is confined mostly to her native Slovakia (Bratislava and Košice) and the Czech Republic (Olomouc and Brno). But she will be performing Rusalka at the Theater Bonn on 10 June and extending her repertoire to embrace Marguerite in Faust (Slovak National Theatre, 7 June) and Liu in Turandot (23 June). Her tally of requiems will reach seven when she performs Michael Haydn's setting in C minor in Košice on 24 May.

Writing in Orpheus Opera International in February 2005, Geerd Heinsen described Adriana Kohútková as a 'beautiful, exceptionally formed and apparently borderless soprano.' Sadly, she has yet to cross the borders that separate her from world-class venues like La Scala, Covent Garden, the Paris Opéra and the New York Met. As and when she does, the operatic world will rejoice to hear this wonderful Slovakian diva.