Pretty Yende (source: Dario Costa)
With her magnetic charm, critically and popularly acclaimed operatic and solo performances worldwide and a wildly successful debut album, South African soprano PRETTY YENDE has quickly become one of the brightest stars of the classical music world.
I first saw her live at the Viennese Theater an der Wien in 2013, when she jumped in for the sick Cecilia Bartoli in Rossini's opera Le Comte Ory. The Count was sung by Lawrence Brownlee, well-known in Bratislava, and together brought the house down. The audience forced an encore at the end of the opera, and the conductor repeated the final aria with both singers and the choir. I have never experienced anything like this before or since.
Her Elvira in Bellini's I Puritani in Barcelona will remain another unforgettable experience, where she and Javier Camarena (Arturo) had to repeat the aria Vieni fra queste braccia (Come into these arms) during the third act.
Simply put, where Pretty Yende sings, the audience roars. It was no different in Paris at the legendary premiere of Verdi's opera Traviata (2019) and later in Massenet's Manon (2020).
Last year Pretty Yende also visited Zlín. (source: FBM Zlín )
How the soprano from the Republic of South Africa conquered the opera world.
And yet, as a child Pretty didn't have a clue about opera. She came into contact with singing mainly in church, where she went with her grandmother at the age of five. She received her first applause there and that's when she realized she had a nice voice. Little did she know that one day she would sing for thousands of spectators.
The turning point for her was hearing the Flower Aria from the opera Lakmé by Leo Délibes in a British Airways commercial. At the sensitive age of sixteen, she was deeply influenced by this aria and longed to learn to sing in the same way. She was lucky to find understanding teachers and studied music instead of training as an accountant.
She studied opera singing at the University of Cape Town, where she attracted the attention of a former local opera intendant who supported young talent. On his recommendation, she continued her studies at the academy in the famous opera La Scala in Milan and attended master classes by world sopranos Montserrat Caballé and Renée Fleming. At the same time, she gained her first stage experience.
She won the international singing competitions Hans Gabor Belvedere, Montserrat Caballé and the renowned Placida Domingo Operalia.
Pretty Yende has performed several times in Prague. (source: Petr Dyrc, Nachtigallartists, Prague )
Prestigious awards paved her way into the world opera scene, where she became the queen of belcanto. She captivated the audience not only with her beautiful singing but also with her sensible acting. Her Adina, Lucia, Maria, Norina, Rosina, Adele, Amira, Fiorilla and Elvíra resonated in Pesaro, Milan, London, Paris, Barcelona, New York, Munich, Berlin, Zurich and Vienna.
Currently she is performing her emblematic role of Elvira in Bellini's I Puritani at the Vienna State Opera. After a series of four performances she will add Bratislava to her list of concerts. On June 10, 2022 she will give a concert of operatic arias in the Slovak Philharmonic.
More information about the concert and tickets at www.kapos.sk
Author: Ján Korecký
