South-African soprano Elza van den Heever comes back to the Grand-Théâtre de Bordeaux, this time for Norma as a role debut. Opera-Online met this magnificent dramatic soprano, one of the most accomplished of our time.
Opera-Online : When did you realise you had a voice ?
Elza van den Heever : I never know how to answer this question, because what I have to say might sound strange ! I did not personally know – in my heart – I had a voice until I sang Elettra, here in Bordeaux, in 2008. After the first performance of the role here, and after feeling the confidence rush through my veins…that was the first time I realized that I had a voice that might actually sustain a career…Before that, I did not really believe in myself. However, I was told from the age of sixteen on that I was due to have a career as a singer, and I sort of followed the dreams of my mother in particular and my voice teacher all the way to San Francisco when I was eighteen to study voice.