Elza van den Heever, Soprano

The South African soprano Elza van den Heever has made a name for herself in the international opera world with her intense role portrayals.

The 2021/22 season begins for the artist as Fidelio-Leonore in San Francisco under the direction of the new music director Eun Sun Kim. At the Staatsoper Berlin she can be heard as Elsa under the baton of the Staatskapellmeister Thomas Guggeis. She will return to the MET in a new production as Rodelina follwoed by Chrysothemis at the Opéra de Paris. Elza van den Heever will end the season at the Frankfurt Opera as Giorgetta and Suor Angelica in Puccini's Il trittico. Concert engagements lead her to the Orchestre de Paris with the German Requiem by Brahms, to Berlin for the Te Deum by Bruckner and for a recital in New York.

In the recent past Elza van den Heever caused a sensation in presenting three important role debuts: Julia in La Vestale at the Theater an der Wien under the baton of Bertrand de Billy, Wozzeck-Marie with Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting at the MET and Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten in concert performances with the Rotterdam Philharmonic.

Audiences in Vienna, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Zurich, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Bordeaux celebrate the soprano for her outstanding achievements. Her vocal skills allow her a wide-ranging repertoire from Mozart (Vitellia, Elettra, Donna Anna), Beethoven (Fidelio-Leonore), the Belcanto repertoire (Norma, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda), Verdi (Elisabetta, Desdemona, Ernani-Elvira , Trovatore-Leonora), Wagner (Elsa, Senta) to Strauss (Empress, Chrysothemis), Berg (Wozzeck-Marie) and Britten (Ellen Orford).

Besides her opera engagements, Elza van den Heever is a sought after concert singer. Her repertoire includes Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, Wagner's Wesendonck-Lieder, Mahler’s 8th Symphony and the Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss.

In the concert field, she works regularly with conductors such as Simone Young, Kirill Petrenko, Bertrand de Billy and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Elza van den Heever was a member of the ensemble of the Oper Frankfurt from 2008 to 2013, where she was able to establish her wide ranging repertoire. She gave her fulminant debut in Europe with Giorgetta in Puccini’s Il trittico there and has been one of the most sought-after sopranos of her generation since then.

Publications include a CD recording of her interpretation of Giorgetta under the baton of Bertrand de Billy (Capriccio) and a DVD recording of her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Elisabetta in Maria Stuarda.

2021-22

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Upcoming performances

www.elzavandenheever.com