On October 12, Elza van den Heever joins the London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra led by Edward Gardner, as well as Ekaterina Gubanova, Arsen Soghomonyan and Gábor Bretz as the other soloists, in performing Verdi’s epic Requiem at the Royal Festival Hall.
When Giuseppe Verdi wrote his Requiem, he refused to let his imagination be constrained by the conventions of sacred music. Instead, he brought all his dramatic power to bear on a story of tragedy, redemption, and the end of time. The result is one of the mightiest of all choral masterpieces.
From June 7 – 28, Elza van den Heever graces the stage of the Oper Frankfurt, in which she portrays the Gallic seer Norma, who enters into a relationship with the Roman proconsul Pollione (Stefano La Colla), her people’s deadly enemy. They are joined by Dshamilja Kaiser, who sings Adalgisa, James Creswell as Oroveso and Julia Moorman as Clotilde. Giacomo Sagripanti conducts.
Comments Off on Elza van den Heever returns to Frankfurt as Norma
On May 3, 4 and 5, Elza van den Heever travels to Berlin to perform under the baton of Bertrand de Billy. The program starts with Beethoven’s Egmont overture, and after the intermission the audience will be treated to Richard Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder with Ms. van den Heever as the soloist. The evening ends with Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloë, Suite No. 2.
She then graces the stage of the Festspielhaus Bregenz on May 16 and 18, to sing one of the soprano solos in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8. With Kirill Petrenko on the podium, she’s also joined by Sarah Wegener, Letizia Scherrer, Claudia Mahnke, Diana Haller, Norbert Ernst, Boaz Daniel and Kwangchul Youn.
This spring, Elza van den Heever stars as Vitellia in the classic Ponnelle production of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito at the Metropolitan Opera. Mozart’s opera of vengeance and forgiveness, set during the Roman Empire, also stars Joyce DiDonato as Sesto and Matthew Polenzani in the title role, with Ying Fang, Emily D’Angelo, and Christian Van Horn completing the principal cast. Lothar Koenigs conducts. The performances take place from March 30 until April 20.
From February 2 until the 18, Elza van den Heever returns to the role of Chrysothemis, Elektra’s meek and accommodating sister, in Richard Strauss’ dramatic opera at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Elektra, sung by Nina Stemme, is the Mycenaean princess whose father, Agamemnon, was murdered by her mother, Klytemnestra, Michaela Martens, leaving Elektra hell-bent on revenge. As Strauss’s staggeringly powerful orchestra moves inexorably toward the opera’s hair-raising finale, the music gives you a composer at his zenith—magnificently theatrical and devastatingly moving.
Ms. van den Heever last sang the role last March at the Metropolitan Opera. Operawire described her performance as “a revelation and arguably the scene-stealer of the night”.
On November 30 and December 1, Elza van den Heever appears at the Lyon Auditorium to sing five Wesendonck-Lieder by Richard Wagner, melodies on poems by Mathilde Wesendonck, wife of the musician’s patron and lover of the latter.
The program for this dates also features Hindemith’s Kammermusik No. 7, Escaich’sÉvocation II and Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3, with Riccardo Minasi on the podium.
On December 17 and 18, she sings this Lieder set again in Lausanne, this time under the baton of Simone Young, in addition to Richard Strauss’ Wiegenlied and Morgen. The program opens with Siegfried-Idyll by Wagner, followed by Ms. van den Heever’s appearance, and end with Henze’s Die blaue Stunde.
Comments Off on Wagner’s Wesendonck-Lieder in Lyon and Lausanne
From October 23 – November 7, Elza van den Heever stars as Elsa in Wagner’s Lohengrin at the Wiener Staatsoper. The rest of the cast features Andreas Schager in the title role, Kwangchul Youn as Heinrich, Evgeny Nikitin as Friedrich and Petra Lang as Ortrud. Simone Young conducts.
Ms. van den Heever has sung this role before to great acclaim. About her 2014 Frankfurt performance, Bachtrack wrote she “added acting skills that also were highly commendable to her tremendous vocal range”. She returns to that production for these upcoming performances.
The performance on November 2 is scheduled for a live broadcast via the Vienna State Opera’s streaming website. The stream starts at 6 p.m. local time / 1 p.m. EDT / 10 a.m. PST. Tickets start at 14€ (approximately $16 USD) and can be purchased directly on their website.
