Pretty Yende has performed in the world’s grandest opera theatres. She’ll tick off even more this year, but she’s driven not by a bucket list but by a burning curiosity to see how far she can challenge her voice and herself.
Pretty just happened to be within earshot when the British Airways advert came on TV.
The two female voices stopped Pretty in her tracks as they trilled together, rising higher and higher. It couldn’t be humanly possible to sing like that, she thought. But the next day, her teacher explained this thing called “opera” and that, while it sounded superhuman to Pretty, it was indeed humanly possible. And so, at just 16, Pretty was determined to figure out how this magic works.
In the 23 years since that day, she has – like those impossible voices – risen higher and higher. She has sung the very song that inspired her – Léo Delibes’ famous ‘Flower Duet’ – and many other classics on some of the world’s biggest and most beloved stages, and the South African soprano shows no signs of stopping. When asked what drives her to ever higher heights, she still talks about that elusive “magic”. It’s calling her name – as it always has.
Hymns at home
At five years old, Pretty and her grandmother would walk to church every week in Mkhondo, Mpumalanga. Being old, her grandmother needed frequent breaks – and she filled those breaks with hymn-singing sessions. “She taught me how to sing in that way and it planted the seed,” Pretty recalls. “We would also sing as a family after supper every night. There was always music at home. I really grew up with it.” Pretty believes she was born to sing opera, even though it only came to her attention on that fateful day when she was 16. As if by fate, the Department of Education introduced opera to the curriculum (and competitions) to schools shortly afterwards – and Pretty’s beloved ‘Flower Duet’ just happened to be a prescribed piece.
“At the beginning, singing that song was joy,” she laughs. “I asked – well, demanded – that Mr K.N. Sithole teach me to sing it. But when I started out, I was so nervous and shy that I sang with a very small voice. I was selected for the choir, but my teacher told me that maybe I wasn’t an opera singer. I thought that maybe he was right, but I just couldn’t stop singing! I asked him to at least teach me just that one song.”
Nevertheless, she got through to the finals in Durban with that song. She arrived at the competition without time to rehearse. Then she and her classmates were mocked by the big city kids for being from Mpumalanga – so much so that she and her duet partner were booed as they walked on stage to perform before the judges. “I was super-nervous, and the booing shocked me,” she shares. “It was such a traumatic experience for me that I still get chills when I think about it now. But whenever I sing that song, I remember the 10 seconds it took for me to overcome the fear. I felt the breath of opera in me when I began to sing the ‘Flower Duet’. It brought me to life.”
From Mkhondo to Milan
Pretty’s success in school opera competitions paved the way to Opera School at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2003. She flourished in local productions and made history when she won first prize in every category at the 2009 Belvedere Competition – the most prestigious international competition for young opera singers. That same year, she was invited to attend the opera school at Milan’s La Scala, one of the leading opera houses in the world and Italy’s most respected. Just five years later, at the age of 27, Pretty debuted at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York as a leading soprano.
In hindsight, it seems like a simple progression of wins… but in reality, Pretty moved forward by challenging herself and her capabilities. “I entered student competitions because I wanted to find out if I really belonged there. I wanted to test myself against the best of the best,” she says. “I was just interested in understanding how to make this magic and share how it made me feel. I didn’t know that a career in opera would mean travelling, leaving South Africa and a lot of hard work.”
After her big wins at the Belvedere Competition, Pretty received many offers promising to make her a star across Europe. But stardom wasn’t on her agenda. “I didn’t want to be a phenomenon. I felt that education was critical, because I wanted to make informed decisions about my voice and career,” she explains. “All my opera idols were suddenly my teachers, and I could watch them rehearse. I learnt how to look after my voice and how to do business. I couldn’t have chosen a better way to learn.” But Milan was far from Mkhondo. “Everything was different: the weather, the food, the language. It was hard,” she recalls. “I was very grateful for the support of my family; we Skyped a lot! They were shocked when I told them I wanted to be a professional opera singer – because I’d planned to be an accountant – but they took the leap of faith with me. It was a new discovery for the whole family, not just for me… I was the first to go to university, and I’m a girl, so they really put their trust in me.”
Performances of a lifetime
This year, Pretty will play a lead role in four major opera productions across Europe. She’ll also sing in a whole host of cities, from Tokyo and Abu-Dhabi to Paris and Geneva. On the day she chatted to BL, she had just two hours to go before she performed as Violetta in La Traviata at the Staatsoper, Berlin. She got a standing ovation that night – and every night of the opera’s entire two-week run. It’s not easy for the star to pick just a few highlights from such an illustrious career. But an early one was performing a duet with Andrea Bocelli. “I was still at La Scala when he asked if l’d like to sing with him. I was so happy! He’s super-kind and invited me to do this big concert with him in New York’s Central Park. We later recorded the song together,” she says.
From the footage of the day, you could never have guessed that Pretty nearly didn’t arrive. “The day before the coronation, I fell down the stairs onstage while performing and hurt my ankle. We thought my ankle was broken, so I was rushed to the emergency room. That was just a few hours before my flight to London! King Charles Il personally asked if I was alright and well enough to perform. I told them that this was one appointment I wouldn’t miss – even if I had to crawl up the steps onto the podium of Westminster Abbey! I was so grateful that I could perform in the end. I’ve always wanted to share my gift with as many people as possible, so this occasion allowed me that moment on a whole new level.”
At the end of 2023 – after taking time off to mourn her beloved mother’s death in July – Pretty achieved another first: she became the first opera ambassador for Dior. “This ambassadorship shows me that I am worthy. They didn’t ask me to be a skinny girl. They took me as I am. This challenges the narrative that you need to be a size-zero girl to be Dior girl. I am so grateful for that,” she says.
Despite racking up so many ‘firsts’, Pretty isn’t driven by being in the lead. “I’m just following my heart and my gift,” she explains. “That gift has given me all these incredible life experiences and personal ‘firsts’. For me, it’s not important that I am the first. What’s important is the proof that a seemingly impossible dream can be achieved if you just keep going and don’t give up.”
It’s a gift
With so many highs amidst so much hard work, staying grounded is a daily practice for Pretty. “Balance means, to me, not losing myself in the fame and fortune entrusted to me, but appreciating it all. I never want to lose my humanity. I am still just that girl who happens to have an amazing gift and is learning how to use it to its optimum.”
When the singer’s not on stage, you’ll find her in the kitchen. “I find that cooking not only looks after my physical health, but my mental and spiritual health too. I also watch a lot of movies!” she says. Ever-curious, she felt ready for a change of scenery after the pandemic. Warsaw came highly recommended, and she’s been there ever since, enjoying the kindness of the people, the good standard of living and the calm energy of the city. But it’s still opera that moves her daily. With 2024 already booked, she’s setting her sights on certain operas she has long wanted to add to her repertoire. But as ever, she’s happy just spreading the magic of opera wherever she goes in the world.
“Opera is a gift to humanity,” she says. “It’s our privilege to bask in it to heal, find joy and relax. It can do what words cannot do. Even if it’s in a language you don’t understand, opera still stirs emotion in you. There’s a musical language carried by the melodies that translates between souls. If it’s perceived as belonging to certain people, well, then those people are all of us now. I hope that we as South Africans and Africans can use it more and more to tell our own stories. We have so much to share.”
Pretty in a flash
Favourite music genre?
Jazz
Do you sing when you’re alone?
Yes.. the melody never stops in me.
What is your pre- and post- performance ritual?
I pray before and after, and then usually go out for a meal with the cast.
What do you always have in your handbag?
My cell phone and lipgloss.
Which instrument do you wish you could play?
The piano.
Photographs: Elena Cherkashyna, Getty, Supplied
