pretty yende cover girl (classicfeel august issue)

7/27/2019 Pretty Yende COVER GIRL (CLASSICFEEL AUGUST ISSUE)

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18 / classic fl classic fl / 19

and back

Mpumalangato Milan

From

When Classicfeelpublished its frst

cover eature on Pretty Yende, the

young South Arican soprano was just

about to appear at the September 2009

edition o Rand Merchant Bank Starlight

Classics and was making her entry

into the international opera scene as a

member o La Scalas Academy. Four

years later, as she explains in another

Classicfeelexclusive interview, she

fnds hersel on the verge o stardom,

having established her name in Europe

and made her debut at the Met. Now,this talented and extremely dedicated

artist is ocused not only on continuing

her rise but also on fnding ways to

bring her success back home.

Prtty Ynd with Juan Digo Florz and nsmbl in th

Mts production of Le Comte Ory

Imags courtsy of th Nw Yor Mtropolitan Opra


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classic fl / 2120 / classic fl

cours, thr is a rason why it is so sought aftr: th standards ar

xtrmly high and th young artists ar xpctd to b abl to p

up. You just ha to gt up to spd with rything fastr than

you thin, says Ynd. Thr is no xcus for not undrstanding

somthing. By th tim you gt thr, your supposd to now

rything. Obiously for m, th languag barrir was th hardst

part. I had to do doubl wor until I rally got to trms with th

languag. Th school offrd languag lssons twic a w so I was

abl to catch up that way. Th programming itslf was ry difficult it

rquird a lot of xprtis. Thr wr twl of us in th programm

and w all cam from diffrnt countris so it was ry dirs. It was

all so nw I had only bn inold with opra for six yars and hr I

was among Russians, Grmans, Italians, Gorgians and this ntir nw

world was opning up. It was quit orwhlming.

Right from th tim that Ynd first bgan hr studis at th

Unirsity of Cap Town (UCT), sh too a highly stratgic approach

to hr craft, wighing ach mo and dtrmining which possibl

cours would b th most ffcti in progrssing hr carr. Hr

dcision to participat in as many singing comptitions as possibl

was drin by this stratgy. Th rason I chos to ntr comptitions

was bcaus, onc I had finishd my courss in Cap Town, it

smd that thr was no othr way to progrss furthr. I thought

to myslf, I dont want to stay hr I want to now mor. Thrs

a whol world out thr, I want to s what othr popl my ag

ar doing. How far am I rally? Is this worth pursuing? My way of

thining thn was that, if I could gt somon to sponsor my tictfor on comptition, thats a way for m to sing to 50 diffrnt popl

within th industry all at onc and that way I dont ha to as for

thousands of rands to do an audition tour. I could ill two birds with

on ston: I would b auditioning in ffct, whilst also sing whr I

was in trms of what on would xpct from a young singr.

As sh dscribs arious points along hr j ourny, Ynd rpats

what sms to b a mantra for hr: Simplify! This is anothr of th

scrts of hr succss whil othrs may jopardis thir prformancs

by bing nrous or uptight bforhand, Ynd mas a point of

minimising or simplifying th situation in hr mind bfor sh gos on to

prform. Lif is difficult so I always li to ma it as simpl as possibl,

sh says. Thus for xampl, bfor waling on stag at La Scala for

th first tim, sh had mad a point of liminating all thought of th

2800-strong audinc or th intimidating history of th plac that has

sn th ry mbodimnts of opra stardom striding across th boards.

Ynd rcalls hr La Scala dbut: On of th grat things about th

La Scala programm is that thy rally gi studnts th opportunity to

xprinc th stag, including taing part in a fully stagd opra opn

to th public. Most young artist programms dont do that. I was chosn

to ta part in a production in my first yar and that was an xprinc

I will nr forgt. What mad it all th mor spcial was that [highly

rgardd singr, opra dirctor and tachr on of Ynds mntors]

Anglo Gobbato flw from Cap Town to Milan, and a fw of my frinds

from Cap Town also cam to s my prformancs and that was

THe SOUTH AFRICAN GOveRNMeNT IS ACTUALLY

STARTING TO ReALISe THe IMPORTANCe OF OP eRA

AND THAT SOUTH AFRICAN SINGeRS ARe MAkING A

HUGe IMPACT OveRSeAS. MORe THAN BeING PLeASeD

THAT I WAS ReCeIvING THIS ReCOGNITION, IT ALSO

MADe Me HOPeFUL THAT SOUTH AFRICA IS FINALLY

OPeNING ITS ARMS TO ITS OPeRA SINGeRS.

In 2009, Prtty Ynd, thn alrady nown to Captonian opra

lors as on of th most promising and rmarabl talnts

among that citys opratic community both in thatrical and

acadmic circls mad intrnational hadlins by winning

th prstigious Hans Gabor Bldr Singing Comptition.

Th thn 24-yar-old singr also ntrd th Acadmy at Tatro

alla Scala in Milan, Italy. Th young hopful from th Mpumalanga

town of Pit Rtif had gaind ntry into th big lagus of

intrnational opra. Whil, on th on hand, sh was in an niabl

position from a profssional point of iw, this opportunity cam

with considrabl prsonal challngs.

Sitting in an upmart Johannsburg rstaurant, Ynd spas

opnly, asily and casually, rminding us that, bhind th hyp and

prais bing hapd on hr by th opratic world and th prss, sh

is still a down-to-arth, small town South African girl at hart albit

a ry talntd and dtrmind on who crtainly nows hr own

mind and posssss a powrful capacity for stratgic thining. Th

formidabl combination of strong slf-blif, humility and shr passion

for hr chosn carr coms through clarly as sh loos bac on thos

arlir days. From a prsonal point of iw, sh says, considring hr

mo to Milan, it was th hardst thing I r had to do. I thought

I nw how to spa Italian until I got thr and ralisd that I rally

only nw thr words: s(ys), no(no) and cosa(what). Also, culturally,

its just so diffrnt. It didnt hlp that I arrid in Nombr so it was

all gry and wintry. I would wa up in th morning and thr would b

no sun, and thn, by th tim I got bac hom at th nd of th day, th

sun was gon again. I just missd th sun so much. I Sypd a lot with

my parnts I would litrally la th Syp running so I could always

s or har somthing I could rlat to. I did fl quit imprisond at

first. I could not xprss myslf, I could not s, har, tast or smll

anything that I had bn familiar with all my lif. All my human snss

for th past 24 yars had just bn shut off. Hr I was, suddnly

thrown into a compltly diffrnt cultur diffrnt wathr, diffrnt

food. So it was ry hard.

From a profssional prspcti, thr ar fw bttr opportunitis

for a budding opra singr than a plac in La Scalas Acadmy. Of


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amazing. With thm thr I actually flt li I was bac in C6 that was

a rharsal room w usd to us at UCT. So whn rybody ls was

so uptight and nrous about it, I was abl to minimis it. By minimising

it, that whol spac of 2800 popl bcam just li a small rharsal

room and all th prssur of thining that Maria Callas sang thr or

Montsrrat Caball sang thr, or whichr stars ar currntly singing

thr I just didnt ma that part of th dal and it was actually on of

th most mmorabl dbuts I had.

At th bginning of this yar, Ynd mad yt anothr

rmarabl dbut whn sh fulfilld hr dram of singing at Nw

Yors Mtropolitan Opra, bing calld upon at th last minut

to sing th rol of Adl in Rossinis Le Comte Ory, whn soprano

Nino Machaidz had to bac out as a rsult of illnss. That showd

m how couragous I could b, sh says. Ynd was at hom in

Pit Rtif for Christmas, haing just compltd wor on th 2012

sason at La Scala, whn sh rcid an mail from hr managr

asing if sh had r considrd Le Comte Ory. Th funny thing

is that just th w bfor, I had bn larning th aria from that

opra. So I told him, Wll, I lo Rossini, I just bn larning

th aria but I nr don th opra bfor I dont n now

what th whol opra loos li. Thn h calls m and h says,

My dar, how about I gi you an arly C hristmas prsnt? How

do you fl about maing your dbut at th Mt in four ws? Of

cours I said, Ar your crazy?!

Bfor maing such a major commitmnt, Ynd dcidd to

download th complt scor for th opra and s what sh was

daling with. I saw that it was only two acts, and that th big

sopranos dont attmpt until much latr in thir carrs: arlir

this yar, sh was ngagd to sing th lad rol in a concrt

prformanc of Donizttis Lucia di Lammermoorin Cap Town.

Ynd calls this hr most challnging wor so far, and crdits it

with rally hlping hr gt to grips with th tchnical dmands

both musical and dramatic with which an opra prformr has

to grappl. Tchnically it hlpd m to tap into placs that I nr

nw xistd in m. Th larning procss of that rol it too

m about two yars to rally mastr it and I dont n thin I

startd yt bcaus I hant prformd it on stag. I had bn

doing rols that wr lightr, mor fun, youngr. This is a much

hair rol and of cours, on of th most famous parts of th rol

is that sh gos mad. What do I now about madnss? This is th

opra that rally taught m how to loo at a rol. I couldnt afford

shortcuts, I couldnt just gt away with singing wll, so I had to gt

into all th intricacis of th rol bfor I could sing it.

At th momnt, hr most chrishd aim as a prformr is to sing

th lads in Donizttis Thr Quns trilogy Anna Bolena, Mary

StuardaandRoberto Devereux. Doniztti is on composr that I

immdiatly loo to. Bllini is just right for my oic as it is now long

lgato lins, a warm sound. Just hr and thr h wants you to show

off but its mostly small singing, which fits ry naturally with my oic.

But with Lucia, Doniztti too to m placs that I nr nw xistd

so I now that, asid from doing a stagd rsion of Lucia, I rally want

to do th Thr Quns. But I also lo vrdi; I will do La traviataon

day. I thin that I can b on of th mmorabl violttas proidd I do

it at th right tim. Im still larning how my oic wors until I can gt

aria, which is th most difficult part, I had alrady larnd. Th

rst was mostly nsmbl wor, so I calld my managr and said,

I can do this. H chos that momnt to tll m that it was with

Juan Digo Florz, who had sung in this sam production opposit

Diana Damrau and Joyc DiDonato. It must ha tan a stady

and thorough application of hr simplify and minimis policy to

orcom this pic of intimidating nws but, of cours, sh was

nr going to pass up on such an incrdibl opportunity. Thr

ws latr, aftr haing larnd hr part at hom, Ynd arrid

in Nw Yor just on w bfor opning night. Whn I first got

thr, th mastro was ry nic to m. H said, Prtty, I wont

ma you sing yt. Just sit and listn to what w bn doing so

far. And as thy startd, it finally hit m: Oh my God, Im at th

Mt. Im in t h sam rharsal room whr Mastro Lin has

word for dcads. This is m, I am hr. Th nxt day I startd

tacling th scor and rharsing and I ralisd thn what I had got

myslf into. I was hitting myslf ry scond Why did you thin

you could do this in a w? And this wasnt just any opra hous,

this was on of my dram opra houss. But it paid off.

It crtainly didpay off and th soprano mad quit an imprssion

on th Mt audinc. A riw in th New York Timessaid that

[Ynds] oic has a luminous shn combind with stly rsol

that powrs both hr clarion top nots and hr outstandingly rich low

rgistr. Sh dlird som of th most difficult coloratura passags

with scintillating prcision, idntly at as in this rprtory.

Hr curtain call, says th sam riwr, was mt by a storm of

braos, whistls and whoops. Th managmnt of th Mt wr so

imprssd with hr prformanc and th audinc rspons that thy

ha asd to ha hr bac as oftn as possibl. Thy ha alrady

ngagd hr to ta th rol of Pamina in nxt yars production of

Mozarts The Magic Flute.

Woring alongsid Juan Digo Florz on Le Comte Orywas not

Ynds first ncountr with this world of opra clbrity of which

sh sms st to bcom an intgral part, but sh admits to hr

usual calm and rsol haing bn shan a littl whn sh first

bgan to wor with him. It was li haing to sing with Paarotti

for m bcaus Juan Digo is th currnt ing of tnors in th

bel cantorprtoir at last. Th first rharsal was trribl I

couldnt sing. Th conductor noticd bcaus w had had sssions

bfor so h nw what I could do and that somhow I just wasnt

bing myslf. I said, Sorry, Mastro, Im haing a bit of a momnt

hr bcaus Juan Digo is right nxt to m. I had mt Juan Digo

bfor at La Scala but this was a diffrnt thing. Hr I was sharing

a stag with him. But h was ry supporti. H was on of th

first popl to say to m, Alright, Prtty, no mor rharsing now.

Just go hom and watch a moi and just switch off. You now th

opra and your th star. Your th saiour of this show so dont

thin about anything ls.

Whn it coms to hr art, rgardlss of hr rcnt succsss,

Ynd ss hrslf as bing in mid-dlopmnt. Sh is still finding

hr oic and so is trying hr hand at arious rols and sounds.

What is clar is that hr oic, for now, is bst suitd to th bel

cantorprtoir, but sh has also attmptd difficult coloratura

singing and n mad a ry imprssi dbut in a r ol that most


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to that point whr I can say, This is who I am. Im still trying to find

my idntity as an artist. Its still a hug puzzl and Im njoying sortingthrough all th pics and slowly fitting thm togthr.

to that point whr I can say, This is who I am. Im still trying

to find my idntity as an artist. Its still a hug puzzl and Im njoying

sorting through all th pics and slowly fitting thm togthr.

Just aftr th Cap Town prformancs of Lucia, Ynd rcid

an mail from th Prsidncy tlling hr that Prsidnt Zuma had

approd hr as th rcipint of th Ordr of Ihamanga in Silr,

which is awardd for xcllnt achimnt in arts, cultur, litratur,

music, journalism and sports. Th South African gornmnt is actually

starting to ralis th importanc of opra and that South African

singrs ar maing a hug impact orsas. Mor than bing plasd

that I was rciing this rcognition, it also mad m hopful that

South Africa is finally opning its arms to its opra singrs.

Ynd is currntly in th midst of an xtndd stay in South

Africa, which is rally all about bringing som of th bnfits of hr

intrnational succss bac hom. Sh is st to gi four concrts

whil sh is hr two in Johannsburg, on in Prtoria and on in

Pit Rtif. Th first concrt, schduld for 1 August, is a gala dinnr

schduld to b hld at Gold Rf City, at which companis ar initd

to buy out tabls for staff and/ or clints. Th procds will go towards

th nwly st up Prtty Ynd Foundation, which is aimd at facilitating

music ducation for childrn in rural and out-of-th-way placs such

as Ynds own homtown. Th scond and third concrts ar opn to

th public and will b hld at th Lindr Auditorium on 2 August and at

th Zk Matthws Hall at th Unirsity of South Africa in Prtoria on 3

August. Th last concrt is a fr on, which will b hld in Pit Rtif

for th bnfit of Ynds old frinds and nighbours. [Editors note:

apologies to our readers for the late notice these dates were only

confirmed after the publication of our July issue. However, Pretty Yende

is due to return to South Africa for more performances in November

2013. Check upcoming issues ofClassicfl as well as www.classicfeel.

co.za for more details.]

Th singr offrd a brif outlin of th concrts. Th ida,

spcially for th Pit Rtif concrt, is to ma it ducational, and

to show what I ha don so far, to balanc who Prtty is now with

what sh was thn and what sh is hading towards. W want to

accommodat ryon so w will b mixing classical with traditional

music. Som of th audinc mmbrs will b xprincd classical

music fans but othrs will nr ha hard classical music bfor. So

w want to includ pics that th old gogoscan also njoy and that

will show thm that ths instrumnts can also play thir music.

Ynd says of hr foundation: Its a dram. Th whol concpt

bhind it is to gi popl a chanc to dram, to gi thm a choic.

I nr had th choic. Somhow it just happnd for m, it all cam

togthr at th right tim. Not ryon has that chanc. So instad

of waiting until I bcom big, whatr that mans, I would li to

ta stps right now to gi othrs that choic. I am saying, I was

born hr and this is what th world has bcom for m and it can

bcom that for you too. So thats th rason for th Prtty Ynd

Foundation, and its not only for singing, its for music in gnral.Ynd crdits hr arly sponsors all priat familis whos

contributions nabld hr to nroll in intrnational comptitions

with hlping hr to launch hr carr. Sh is also full of prais and

gratitud for hr xcptional tachrs, including Anglo Gobbato

and virginia Daids at UCT, Mirll Frni at La Scala and hr currnt

oic coach, th rnownd soprano Marilla Dia. But much of hr

gratitud is rsrd for hr own parnts, who ncouragd hr to

follow hr drams and facilitatd th arly stags of that pursuit.

Im from a loing family that rally proidd for m. My Dad and

my Mom mad m bli that I could always approach thm. Thy

wrnt rich or anything but I nw that I could always call Mom and

Dad thy wr always a phon call away. Thy wr thr from

th bginning. Mom would com to my school concrts and ry

comptition that I did. I got thm to com to my dbut at La Scala

in Don Pasqual. I wantd thm to s that I was alright, bcaus

parnts worry: Whr ar you staying? What ar you ating? I

wantd thm to s th city Im liing in and to s th rspons

of th Italians. Thy wr li, Wow, popl rally lo you hr.

Thyr loing it and thy also ma sur that I rmain m. Whn

Im hom, I am just m. I wa up at a crtain tim, I do th laundry,

I do th cooing and I can just b a girl, not Prtty Ynd th famous

opra singr. I bn ry fortunat and I now that not ryon

coms from such a bacground so what I want to do now with th

foundation is to try and mt th world halfway. CF

pretty yende cover girl (classicfeel august issue)

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