Pretty Yende

Pretty Yende OIS (born 6 March 1985) is a South African operatic soprano.[1] She has performed leading roles at opera houses internationally, including La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera. She performed at the coronation of Charles III and Camilla.

Pretty Yende

OIS
Yende at a concert performance of Lucia di Lammermoor in Cape Town in April 2013
Born (1985-03-06) 6 March 1985
Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Alma mater
OccupationOpera singer (soprano)
Years active2009–present
Websitewww.prettyyende.com

Early life and education

Born in Piet Retief, Mpumalanga,[2] Yende was inspired to learn opera at age 16 after seeing a British Airways TV advertisement that featured the Flower Duet from Lakmé.[3] She subsequently enrolled at the South African College of Music, where her teachers included Virginia Davids, and from which she graduated cum laude. She also graduated from the Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy. Her younger sister, Nombulelo Yende, is also an opera singer.[4]

Yende won two prizes in the 2008 International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch: the Prize of the Province of North Brabant, and the Engagement Opera Riga, which gave her the opportunity to take part in the new year concert at the Latvian National Opera in December.[5] She won first prize in operetta and opera at the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition 2009 in Vienna.[6] In 2010, Yende won first prizes at three competitions: 1st Vincenzo Bellini International Competition,[7] 1st International Singing Competition of Savonlinna Opera Festival (shared),[8] 6th Leyla Gencer Voice Competition.[9] In 2011, she won first prize at Operalia, held that year in Moscow.[10]

Career

Yende performed Berenice in L'occasione fa il ladro (2010) and Elvira in L'italiana in Algeri (2011) as part of the academy at La Scala,[11][12] where she sang four roles next season: the Priestess (Aida), Barbarina (The Marriage of Figaro), Norina (Don Pasquale), Musetta (La bohème).[13] Alongside Bryan Adams and Andrea Bocelli, she appeared in the closing concert of the 2010 FIFA World Cup on 9 July 2010, two days before the final.[14] She was featured in Bocelli's Live in Central Park concert on 15 September 2011,[15] which was aired on PBS's Great Performances and physically released as Concerto: One Night in Central Park.[16] They united in the concert entitled Amore e perdono held by the Fetzer Institute at the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi on 22 September 2012, which was aired on Rai 1 on 29 September 2012.[17]

Yende made her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York City on 17 January 2013, in the role of Adèle in Rossini's Le comte Ory, as a substitute for Nino Machaidze.[18][2] She subsequently stepped in for Cecilia Bartoli in the same role at the Theater an der Wien.[19] In July 2014, she returned to La Scala for Le comte Ory, alternating Countess Adèle with Aleksandra Kurzak.[20] Later in the year, she returned to New York for The Magic Flute (Pamina) at the Met, and between the performances she sang at the Richard Tucker Gala and made her Carnegie Hall debut in a solo recital.[21] In 2015 she portrayed Susanna in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at the Los Angeles Opera.[22] In 2016 she portrayed Rosina in The Barber of Seville and the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Paris Opera.[23]

Yende is credited as a primary artist for the "Ode À L'Humanité" (Ode to Humanity, previously called Aria) track on the Yanni/Plácido Domingo collaboration Inspirato (2014).[24]

In 2018, she portrayed Adina in Bartlett Sher's production of L'elisir d'amore at the Metropolitan Opera, which ran through January and February.[25]

In 2023, Yende performed at the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla. She sang "Sacred Fire", a piece written by Sarah Class for the Coronation.[26]

Incident in Paris

Yende accused French border police of police brutality and racial discrimination. She detailed on social media her experience of being treated like a criminal at Charles de Gaulle Airport on 21 June 2021 while arriving for her fourth La sonnambula performance at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. She said she was strip searched and held in a dark room with all her belongings taken.[27] The French National Police disputed that it was she that had a South African passport without a visa to enter. She did present her residence permit issued in Milan, with which she had always travelled throughout Europe,[28] yet they said she needed a separate one-time visa, while Yende and her lawyer claimed she had all the documents required.[27] They also denied having ordered her to undress but a pat-down by a female officer in accordance to standard procedure, and she left around 6 pm with a regularisation visa.[27][29][30]

DIRCO, aware of the incident, demanded explanation and investigation from the French authorities through the South African Embassy in Paris. It also voiced their intention to démarche the French Ambassador to South Africa, based in Pretoria, to convey its displeasure.[31]

Awards and honours

Yende was awarded Siola d'oro in 2011.[32] She won an Arca d'oro Italia Young Talents Award in 2012,[33] and performed a recital in Turin on 30 March 2013 owing to the award.[34]

She was conferred the Silver Order of Ikhamanga on 27 April 2013. In a statement by the chairperson of the National Orders Advisory Council, Dr. Cassius Lubisi, Yende was conferred the honour "for her excellent achievement and international acclaim in the field of world opera and serving as a role model to aspiring young musicians."[35][36]

She was one of the winners of the 2013 Women of the Year Awards by Glamour South Africa.[37] In September 2013 she received an Mbokodo Award in the category of opera.[38]

Yende won the Best Recording Solo Recital Award for her album A Journey in the 2017 International Opera Awards,[39] and was awarded the International Achiever Award in the 23rd South African Music Awards.[40] She won a Readers' Award in the 2018 International Opera Awards,[41] and the Cologne Opera Award (Kölner Opernpreis), received during the city's Floraball.[42] In 2019, she was invested a Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy.[43]

Discography

Yende signed a long-term recording contract with Sony Classical in October 2015.[44] Her first recording under this Sony contract was "A Journey".[45]

Opera roles

See also

References
  1. Staff (1 February 2013). "Pretty Good Met Debut for Yende". Centre for Higher Education Development, University of Cape Town. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  2. Neophytou, Nadia (3 February 2013). "SA Soprano Pretty Yende takes NY by Storm". Eyewitness News (South Africa). Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  3. Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim (1 February 2013). "Little Time to Prepare; Now a Legacy to Keep". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  4. "Nombulelo Yende gives opera concert in Sandton". Artslink.co.za. 16 March 2018.
  5. Mcevoy, Chris (16 October 2008). "Yende's star rises high". UCT News.
  6. "Winners Opera & Special Prizes". Belvedere Competition.
  7. "Concours Bellini – Promotion 2010". Concours International de Belcanto Vincenzo Bellini (in French). Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  8. "Oopperalaulukilpailu onnistui hyvin". Yle (in Finnish). 26 July 2010.
  9. "6th Leyla Gencer Voice Competition". Leyle Gencer Voice Competition.
  10. "List of Winners". Operalia Competition.
  11. "Per il Progetto Accademia 2010 in scena alla Scala "L'occasione fa il ladro" di Rossini". Bit Culturali. 17 September 2010.
  12. "Milano, Teatro alla Scala: "L'italiana in Algeri"". GBOpera. 12 July 2011.
  13. "La bohème – Teatro alla Scala". La Scala. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  14. CBC Arts (29 April 2010). "Bryan Adams tapped for closing World Cup gig". CBC News.
  15. Tommasini, Anthony (16 September 2011). "Andrea Bocelli, Philharmonic and Friends in Central Park". The New York Times.
  16. "Andrea Bocelli: Live in Central Park". pbs.org. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  17. "Amore e perdono: ad Assisi il meeting internazionale del Fetzer Institute". Il sito di Perugia. 19 September 2012.
  18. Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim (18 January 2013). "Wily Suitors and the Challenges of Chastity". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  19. ""Le Comte Ory": Pretty Yende springt für Cecilia Bartoli ein". Der Standard. 13 February 2013.
  20. "High notes at La Scala". IOL. 11 July 2014.
  21. MacBlane, Amanda (10 October 2014). "Soprano Pretty Yende's New York Story Began in Rural South Africa". WQXR.
  22. "Pretty Yende: An Opera Star Whose Rise Began with a Fall". NPR News. 20 March 2015.
  23. Tom Huizenga (8 September 2016). "Review: Pretty Yende, 'A Journey'". NPR News.
  24. "Pretty Yende / Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  25. Oestreich, James R. (17 January 2018). "Review: A Donizetti Revival at the Met Hints at More to Come". The New York Times.
  26. "Opera singer Yende 'too excited to be nervous' at king's coronation". Reuters. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  27. Hernández, Javier C. (23 June 2021). "South African Opera Star Says She Was Mistreated by French Police". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  28. "Pretty Yende, pomeriggio da incubo all'aeroporto di Parigi : "Maltrattata per motivi razziali in Francia"". la Repubblica. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  29. "La soprano Pretty Yende dénonce des violences policières françaises". Le Point. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  30. "Opera singer says Paris police detained, strip searched her". ABC News. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  31. "South Africa contacts French authorities following the ill treatment of opera star Pretty Yende" (Press release). DIRCO. 24 June 2021.
  32. "Jessica Pratt vince la XV edizione del premio Pagliughi" (in Italian). Comune di Cesena. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  33. Franchi, Susanna (31 October 2012). "L'Arca d'oro a Chailly". Il Giornale della Musica (in Italian).
  34. Crema, Gabriella (30 March 2013). "Sven Väth "Re della Savana" allo Chalet; Pretty Yende alla scuola d'Applicazione". la Repubblica (in Italian).
  35. "National Orders to be bestowed on deserving recipients". South African Government News Agency. 22 April 2013.
  36. "SA: Statement by Cassius Lubisi, Chancellor of the National Orders..." (Press release). National Orders Advisory Council. 22 April 2013 – via Polity.org.za.
  37. van der Westhuizen, Liezel (25 July 2013). "Living loud with Liezel: Glamour Women of the Year Awards". 48hours.co.za.
  38. "Mbokodo Awards winners announced". Bizcommunity.com. 2 September 2013.
  39. Salazar, Francisco (7 May 2017). "Opera Awards 2017 Winners: Lawrence Brownlee and Anna Netrebko Win Top Awards". OperaWire.
  40. "SAMA 23 honours international achiever". The Gremlin. 15 May 2017.
  41. Jackson, Claire (10 April 2018). "International Opera Awards reveals winners". Rhinegold Publishing.
  42. Pauline Faust (6 June 2018). "Tanzen wie im 19. Jahrhundert Am Samstag findet der Flora-Ball statt". Kölnische Rundschau.
  43. "SA opera star Pretty Yende awarded Italian knighthood". eNCA. 12 December 2019.
  44. Mazzaro, Maria (January 2016). "Noteworthy & Now". Opera News. 80 (7). Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  45. Erica Jeal (29 September 2016). "Pretty Yende: A Journey CD review – fearless singing by new-wave South African". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
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