Pretty Yende
March 6, 1985 - Piet Retief (South Africa)
© Dario Acosta
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The 34 year old South African soprano obtained her Performer’s Diploma in Opera as well as her Post Graduate studies in Opera (Performance) both cum laude, at the South African College of Music (University of Cape Town), South Africa. She has recently graduated from the Accademia Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
Miss Yende’s operatic repertoire includes Helena in Benjamin Britten’s A midsummer night’s dream, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte, La Contessa in Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro, Magda in Puccini’s La Rondine, title role Manon by Jules Massenet as well as Poppea in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea during her studies in Cape Town. Her European opera debuts include the role of La musica in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo in Mantua, Verona, Micaela (debut role) in Bizet’s Carmen at the Latvian National Opera House, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess at Deutsche Oper Berlin and Den Norske Opera & Ballet. In 2010 she gave her much acclaimed debut at the Teatro alla Scala as Berenice in Rossini’s L’occasione fa il Ladro.
Her concert repertoire includes Mozart's Requiem, Missa Solemnis, Solemn Vespers, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Vivaldi’s Magnificat, Faure’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Mass in C, 9th Symphony as well as Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs.
Her future engagements include debut roles as Barbarina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, and Musetta in Puccini’s La Bohème all at the Teatro alla Scala.
A specialist of the belcanto, Pretty Yende is awarded first prize at the Vincenzo Bellini International Competition in December 2010. In 2011, she wins the Zarzuela Prize, the Public Prize and the First Prize at the Operalia Competition, first artist in the prestigious competitions' history to be awarded three prizes.
