Elza van den Heever
Soprano
© Jiyang Chen
Born in South Africa, Elza van den Heever, a member of the Ensemble at Oper Frankfurt from 2008-2013, is one of the most outstanding sopranos of her generation. Now she’s back in Frankfurt, where she returned 2022 for Giorgetta and Suor Angelica in Il trittico, to sing her first Turandots in the first new production of the work here for many years. Other role debuts and triumphs during her time in Frankfurt included Leonora (Il trovatore), Elvira (Ernani, in concert), Desdemona (Otello), Hélène (Les Vêpres siciliennes), Elisabetta (Don Carlos) and Elsa (Lohengrin). She recently enjoyed great success with roles including Leonora (Il trovatore), Elvira (Ernani, in concert), Desdemona (Otello), Hélène (Les vêpres siciliennes), Elisabetta (Don Carlos), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Elettra (Idomeneo) and Elisabetta (Maria Stuarda), a role she sang for the first time in Frankfurt and when she made her debut at the Met in New York in 2012, where she has since thrilled audiences with roles including Donna Anna, Elettra, Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito), Senta (The Flying Dutchman), Elisabeth (Tannhäuser) and Strauss roles including Salome, Chrysothemis (Elektra) and The Empress (Die Frau ohne Schatten). In the summer of 2025 she made her debut in Bayreuth, singing Elsa in Lohengrin and sang Sieglinde (Die Walküre) at the Salzburg Festival. Her 2025/26 season began with Bruckner’s Te Deum in Rotterdam, followed by Sieglinde at the Opéra de Bastille in Paris and Staatsoper in Berlin. With a repertoire ranging from the baroque to Mozart, Beethoven and bel canto, including Norma, to Berg and Britten, she’s sought-after by leading opera houses all over the world, including La Scala Milan, Zurich Opera, the Vienna State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Santa Fe Festival, working with conductors including Kirill Petrenko, Christian Thielemann, Betrand de Billy, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Simone Young at leading concert venues too.