Great infusions of talent and energy have come to the classical-music world from increasingly unexpected places – Latvia (Elena Garanca and Andris Nelsons), Quebec (Yannick Nezet-Seguin), Venezuela (Gustavo Dudamel) and now….South Africa, with the personality-plus soprano Pretty Yende. Her Metropolitan Opera appearances in Le Comte Ory and currently The Magic Flute have been extravagantly well-received in some quarters, though anyone looking to experience a star-is-born moment at her New York debut recital at Weill Hall on Monday, which comes only four years since she emerged from the competition circuit, probably realized that turning point happened already.
Besides having a magnetically lush soprano (with mezzo-ish depths one associates with Eleanor Steber), this 30-year-old singer from Piet Retief, Mpumalanga exudes as much genuine warmth as she does boundless artistic confidence – plus a touch of vulnerability that draws you closer to her. With a poised formality one associates with recitalists of previous generations, she sang an enterprising program of Meyerbeer and Bellini arias plus scenes from Spanish zarzuela and Debussy art songs that was clearly out to show the range of what she can do … Her second encore was a traditional song “Thula Mntwana,” that had a combination of exterior elegance and burning inward conviction that one hopes for more of in the future …
In the Liszt Petrarch sonnets, I’m used to hearing the music spiral from climax to repose in the more self-regarding manner of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau; Yende gave more a sense of what’s really written on the page. As one might expect from someone being coached by the stage savvy soprano Lauren Flanigan, Yende sings with the most control and range of expression when dealing with complicated emotional states. Many recitalists sing to an imaginary antagonist onstage, but Yende does so with such detail that the character she creates through suggestion and implication is almost as strong as her own persona.
Perhaps that’s one reason why bel canto opera may become a particular specialty. She had the notes for the climactic “Ah! non credea mirati” from La sonnambula but also infuses them with extraordinarily clear dramatic motivation. And of course one had to smile in agreement when she sang “They call me exquisite” in her excerpts from the Jeronimo Gimenez version of The Barber of Seville. But if there’s one musical place I would like her to take me, it’s home – her home, to South Africa with all the native magic and mysticism that comes with it.
-WQXR
When the South African soprano Pretty Yende sang Liszt’s tranquil setting of that poem on Monday evening at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the words rang truer than usual.
A gracefulness that can seem decidedly divine seems to radiate from Ms. Yende. Though she is more than capable of tossing off playful comets of notes, and she agreeably sings quick, comic songs, it’s for her calm subtlety that she is most notable. Not every young artist making a New York recital debut is in possession of such serenity.
Now appearing at the Metropolitan Opera as Pamina in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte,” Ms. Yende was featured in Sunday’s Richard Tucker Gala at Avery Fisher Hall. But the intimate Weill Hall was perhaps best suited to her light yet full voice, with its fast, even quivering vibrato and affecting shimmer …
But Ms. Yende’s emotions, if rarely intense, still feel authentic. In the scene from Bellini’s “La Sonnambula” that precedes the aria “Ah! Non credea mirarti,” she wasn’t dreamy, or despondent, but rather plain-spoken, restrained and gently poignant. Feeling emerged from details: In a rapt version of Donizetti’s song “L’amor funesto,” the final vowel of the first stanza flowed stylishly into the start of the second. A slow dilation of volume on a held note in another of Liszt’s Petrarch settings came a few moments before she turned her tone quietly, movingly vacant for the phrase “morte e vita” (“death and life”) …
Her ornamentation was artful in “Ah! Non giunge uman pensiero” from “La Sonnambula,” and her poise, honesty and melting tone in her first encore, “O mio babbino caro,” made that Puccini chestnut seem fresh and special.
– The New York Times
A young South African soprano Pretty Yende made a New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s intimate Weill Recital Hall with a diverse and ambitious program … The recital began with four non-opera songs by the three giants of bel canto, Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti, all of them about love. From the beginning, Ms Yende’s voice was fully warmed up and her passage work was exemplary. Dressed in a rich maroon-colored gown, she displayed a strong command of the Italian language, and her high notes were produced effortlessly. Her coloratura was natural, accurate and delightful. The third selection, Donizetti’s “L’amor funesto (Sad Love)”, was especially affecting as she brought powerful emotion to the song of love and death.
She ended the first half of the program with Meyerbeer’s “O beau pays de la Touraine (O beautiful country of Touraine) from Les Huguenots, which brought her back to a more comfortable operatic territory, and one must admire again her ability to produce dramatic high notes with seeming ease and beauty.
After the intermission, Ms Yende reappeared in a black gown with silverly white shawl-like piece around her shoulder and beautiful jewellery. The three Petrarch Sonnets by Liszt were quite successful, with Ms Yende setting her voice elegantly to the melody while her high notes were now free from any earlier tension. While the program notes state that Liszt experimented with innovative harmonies and pianistic effects in his earlier songs, Ms Yende’s command of Liszt’s music was such that one almost wishes that Liszt had written an opera for a coloratura soprano such as Ms Yende. The ending of the third piece, “Benedetto sia’l giorno” (Blessed be the Day) and the beginning of the next piece, “I’vidi in terra angelica costume” (I beheld on earth angelic grace), were especially notable for her exquisite phrasing.
Ms Yende showed her versatility with the next three selections, zarzuela pieces by Jeronimo Gimenez. Two songs from The Headstrong Girl, with snappy rhythm and play on words, with occasional shout of “Ay!” were executed with great energy and pizzazz. Ms Yende had been somewhat subdued dramatically during the earlier part of the recital, but with the lively Spanish songs a more lively side of her personality came through …
One of the three encore pieces featured a South African celebratory song (sung without piano accompaniment) makes it clear that her heritage and tradition favors clean and straightforward use of beautify high notes, which is what Ms Yende possesses in abundance. She also seems to be a charming and elegant person, willing to experiment and learn. One hopes that she will continue to develop a distinct voice as an artist and thrill the audience with her gift.
-Bachtrack
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Pretty Yende, the South African soprano, has quickly become a New York sensation after a well-received 2013 Met debut in Le Comte Ory. She has a recital at Carnegie’s Weill Hall coming up next week, and on Monday she sang her first Pamina at the Met … she has a sizable, rich, and even tone with beautiful color from top to bottom. She was a pleasure to hear, and she’s a creditable actress, as well.
-New York Classical Review
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“When she sings, you think she sings for you,” La Scala’s casting manager once said of rising opera star Pretty Yende. The full house at Artscape certainly thought so as we clung to each euphonious note of Yende’s ‘Regnava nel silenzio’. Our applause roared on for a good minute or so after the aria’s close; never mind that it was only Act I, Scene 2.
To say the crowd was excited would be a gross understatement. With the wriggling anticipation of an eager child, Cape Town was ready to welcome back its champion soprano – this time with several La Scala performances, multiple top prizes at international competitions, and a recent Metropolitan Opera debut under her belt which had the New York press fawning with praise. Accompanying her for the night’s performance was a stalwart cast including tenor Colin Lee, baritone George Stevens (recently acclaimed for his portrayal of Jago in Otello) and bass Xolela Sixaba (another massively popular singer since his phenomenal performance in the lead role of Porgy and Bess). This all star cast was under the baton of none other than Maestro Richard Bonynge. If there ever was an expert on Lucia di Lammermoor, it would have to be Bonynge, the husband of the late Dame Joan Sutherland whose Lucia performances rang in the bel canto renaissance from the 1950s to the 1980s …
What evoked the standing ovation at the end of Act II, however, was Pretty Yende’s radiant coloratura which soared over the fifty or so other singers on the stage. Hers is not a flashy, flighty voice but a ripe and steady one that belies her tender age of 27 … the dulcet glow of her voice and her bravura in particular are traits even the prima donna did not come into until middle age. There was no smudging in Yende’s trills, mordents, and arpeggios; her crisp, nimble runs could send Mariah Carey home weeping. Pairing technical skill with dramatic undertones that evoked Maria Callas – especially in the middle range – Yende delivered a seamless bel canto sound, at once delicate and focused.
Most remarkable was the ease with which she produces those lovely notes. When she reached the famously challenging “mad scene”, she did not attack the high notes; rather, she made it seem like plucking fruit from a tree that was within easy reach. The true test of this came in the soprano and flute duet cadenza … Yende triumphed in this battle of agility, range, and sonority between human voice and instrument.
From the first shaping of the orchestra’s sound in Maestro Bonynge’s hands to the unrestrained “bravos” at the end as we rose to our feet, the tight cast of talents carried us through a concert that will not easily be forgotten. It was a landmark moment for the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra and the historic first of what will likely be many acclaimed Lucia performances on Yende’s part. Pretty Yende sang for Cape Town tonight, but she is not to be kept all to ourselves. The whole world awaits her.
-What’s on in Cape Town
This was a performance which created a wave of gratitude for the wealth of artistry that has been engendered in our lovely city: a performance to savour and to add to the memory banks storing our richest experiences … we were treated to an immaculate concert reading of Donizetti’s masterpiece, performed by a homegrown cast and our own symphony orchestra. Homegrown they might be; but Pretty Yende, Colin Lee and George Stevens have all become international artists, living abroad and performing in the leading opera houses of Europe, the UK and North America.
Yende is long since a big name in Cape Town. I have had the privilege of both working with and reviewing her over the course of almost a decade and she has simply grown in stature with each encounter.
There hardly seems any point in enthusing about the quality of a voice that is already so commented on, discussed and admired. It is an extraordinary instrument, of wonderful reliability throughout Yende’s considerable range and possessing a captivating mellow quality that gives even the most forceful utterances a nuanced tonal beauty.
But what really impressed in Yende’s debut in this taxing role was her exemplary breath control. No, more than exemplary: for she governs her considerable lung capacity with a rigorous diaphragmatic control that ensures a seemingly endless and perfectly stable vocal projection. To this she adds the myriad technical vocal inflexions that create a Lucia of overwhelming musical impact. On this showing, Yende is going to be one of the great Lucias of the next two decades.
-IOL
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Possessed of diamanté tone and a megawatt smile, the young South African soprano Pretty Yende seems to take charge of the stage wherever she goes.
It’s not hard to see why she has won so many major voice competitions or made spectacular debuts recently, including at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Her London recital debut at Wigmore Hall, presented under the auspices of the Rosenblatt Recitals, was thus eagerly awaited. Among other composers heard here, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini all gave her a chance to confirm her credentials as a singer in the Italianate tradition.
Floating a line in which every note is always perfectly placed, Yende is best of all in the bel canto repertoire. Highlights included “O luce di quest’anima”, the show-stopping aria from Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix, in which Yende displayed a good trill; some soft coloratura in “Bel raggio” from Rossini’s Semiramide; and the stillness and poise she brought to Bellini’s song “Almen, se non poss’io”.
Yet such bright, glinting tone can make for an unvaried concert. Yende tried to address this with a group of well-loved Debussy songs, which softened the atmosphere, and some American numbers by Weill, Gershwin and Bernstein – whose “I feel pretty” she was at least in one sense born to sing.
In the final Rosenblatt recital for 2012-13, South African soprano Pretty Yende took London’s Wigmore Hall by storm in her UK recital debut, with accompanist James Vaughan. Heard only once before in the UK, singing “Summertime” in Cape Town Opera’s 2009 tour of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, the 28-year-old soprano, who grew up in a township, has packed in an award-winning few years, and acclaimed performances at the Met New York and La Scala Milan.
Yende’s voice is lustrous, amazingly agile, and she has the technical skill to tackle the acrobatics of Rossini or Donizetti, with a dizzying “O light of my soul” from the latter’s Linda di Chamounix. She took in Gershwin and Bernstein too, (“I feel pretty” from West Side Story).
