Ms. van den Heever opens her 2017/2018 season in Germany, singing Leonora in Oper Frankfurt’s new production of Il Trovatore. One of Verdi’s most popular operas, the work is full of beautiful arias and stirring ensemble pieces. Ms. van den Heever has performed this demanding soprano role several times, and was hailed as “spellbinding” (Concertonet) and having a “voluptuous tone and luxurious vocal line.” (Sud Ouest) This season at Oper Frankfurt, Elza performs in a David Bösch production, and sings opposite Piero Pretti as Manrico, Brian Mulligan as Conte di Luna, and Tanja Ariane Baumgartner as Azucena. Conducted by Jader Bignamini, the production opens on September 10, 2017 with additional performances in September and October. Tickets are available here.
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Once the last performance of Alcina is over at Santa Fe Opera on August 23, Ms. van den Heever moves on to singing Leonora in Verdi’s masterpiece Il trovatore, five years after debuting the role at the Canadian Opera Company, where she was said to “achieve controlled fragility and vocal splendour” (Bachtrack). This new production by David Bösch will bring an exciting young cast on the stage of Oper Frankfurt, with Brian Mulligan as Conte di Luna, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner as Azucena, Piero Pretti as Manrico, and Kihwan Sim as Ferrando.
After performing Verdi’s Requiem with the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Ms. van den Heever travels to the Santa Fe Opera to sing the title role in Handel’s Alcina. She made her Santa Fe debut in 2009 as Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and is delighted to perform again at this prestigious American summer festival. For this occasion Santa Fe has selected the production which was created at the Opéra National de Bordeaux by David Alden. Mr. Alden places the story in an abandoned theater, inspired by the architecture of the Bordeaux Opera House. Elza sang the title role at its 2012 premiere, where she was hailed as “the dominant vocal presence of the evening” (Opera News). In Santa Fe, Ms. van den Heever is joined by Anna Christy as Morgana, and Paula Murrihy as Ruggiero, with conductor Harry Bicket leading from the pit. Alcina premieres on July 29, with additional performances on August 2, 11, 17, and 23.
On June 9 & 11, Elza van den Heever is the soprano soloist for Verdi’s Requiem at the Opéra National de Bordeaux. Ms. van den Heever sings this masterwork alongside an international roster of soloists, including mezzo-soprano Aude Extrémo, tenor Gwyn Hughes Jones, and baritone Wenwei Zhang, conducted by Paul Daniel. The performances also feature the talents of the Chœur de l’Opéra National de Bordeaux, Chœur de l’Armée française, and Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine.
Following her tremendous success in New York as Elettra in Idomeneo, Elza van den Heever travels to Dallas to star in the title role of Bellini’s Norma. In a production by Nic Muni, Ms. van den Heever is joined by Yonghoon Lee as Pollione and Christian van Horn as Oroveso. Maestro Emmanuel Villaume leads the cast from the podium for all performances April 21, 23, 26, 29 and May 7. Visit dallasopera.org for additional information and tickets.
“…van den Heever makes a very beautiful sound, without a cutting edge. She is also a very fine actress, her Act 2 very moving. Her more lyric sound is closer in timbre and volume to the Adalgisa of Isabel Leonard, and the two blended very beautifully in “Mira, o Norma.” – Joseph So, Musical Toronto
Elza van den Heever stars in the virtuosic role of Elettra in Mozart’s Idomeneo at the Metropolitan Opera. She is joined by a stellar cast including Matthew Polenzani as Idomeneo, Nadine Sierra as Illia, and Alice Coote as Idamante in Jean–Pierre Ponnelle’s classic production. Under the baton of the Metropolitan Opera’s famed Music Director Emeritus James Levine, performances take place on March 6, 10, 13, 17, 21 & 25. Visit the metopera.orgfor additional information and tickets.
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On February 3, Elza van den Heever sings Strauss’ Four Last Songs with l’Orchestre de l’Opéra de Limoges and conductor Robert Tuohy. The “Enigma” themed programme also includes Mahler’s Totenfeier and Elgar’s Enigma Variations. Tickets and additional information about the concert can be found at the following link.
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Elza van den Heever sings Elvira in Verdi’s Ernani, in concert on January 20 & 22 at Oper Frankfurt. Ms. van den Heever is joined by an illustrious international cast, including Alfred Kim in the title role and Quinn Kelsey as Don Carlos, with conductor Simone Young leading the Frankfurter Opern und Museumsorchester and Oper Frankfurt Chorus.
Plot synopsis from Oper Frankfurt: Three men are squabbling over the heart of the beautiful Elvira: her uncle, the vindictive, ageing, Spanish Grande Don Ruy Gomez de Silva, an aristocratic scion, Ernani, whose affections she returns, who travels around with a band of robbers, and the hot-blooded Spanish King, Carlos who, after being elected German Emperor, turns into a wise, noble and self sacrificing do-gooder. When a happy end for the two lovers seems almost within reach, an abstruse sense of honour ruins everything.
After Giuseppe Verdi’s first big success with Nabucco in 1842 he wanted to explore new avenues: for Ernani, written for La Fenice in Venice, he chose a play by Victor Hugo, not by chance a key French romantic work. In the foreword to his 1827 verse drama Cromwell, Hugo drew up a manifesto for a new literary movement which turned its back, once and for all, on classical aesthetics and looked back with renewed interest to the past values of Shakespeare, to perverse, horrible, grotesque driven extremes. Inspired by the vascillating, fragile characters in Hugo’s Hernani ou L’Honneur castillian, Verdi created an exciting opera, breathing life into the inwardly torn figures on stage.
