Welcome

“As Armida, the bright-voiced, fearless soprano Elza van den Heever stole every scene she was in...”

The New York Times
Der Fliegende Holländer - Santa Fe Opera

Van den Heever was a luminous Senta, singing with power, beauty, and a full palate of tone colours.

Ludwig van Toronto
Season Highlights

"Blessed with a plush, dramatic voice capable of formidable power and dazzling high notes ..." soprano Elza van den Heever's current season includes role debuts in Tannhäuser and Die Walküre.

Associated Press
'Peter Grimes' at English National Opera

"Elza van den Heever, a superb South African soprano who looks and sounds remarkably like the young Joan Sutherland, stands out from the herd as a stolid and sensible Ellen Orford, with a voice of angelic sheen and purity promising hope and redemption."

The Telegraph
The Metropolitan Opera's 'Maria Stuarda'

“Elza van den Heever ... whose career is rising internationally, is a vocally burnished and emotionally tempestuous Elizabeth (Elisabetta) … her voice has penetrating depth and character. She turns flights of coloratura passagework into bursts of jealousy and defiance ..."

The New York Times

About Elza

South African-born soprano Elza van den Heever is one of the world's most important representatives of the youthful dramatic genre.

In the 2023/24 season, Elza van den Heever will be heard in her showpiece role of the Empress (Frau ohne Schatten) under Christian Thielemann at the Vienna State Opera. At the MET, she will make her role debut as Elisabeth (Tannhäuser). Following her triumphant success as the Empress, she now returns to the Baden-Baden Easter Festival as Chrysothemis (Elektra) under Kirill Petrenko, which she will also sing in concert in Berlin. She also has a long-standing artistic partnership with Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In the new season, Elza van den Heever will sing Sieglinde (Walküre) under his direction with the Rotterdam Philharmonic in Rotterdam, Dortmund and Paris. She will return to the Opera de Paris as Julia in Spontini's La Vestale (Lydia Steier / Bertrand de Billy).