Carnegie Hall

South African soprano Elza van den Heever has made a name for herself in the international opera world with her intense role portrayals. Her 2021–2022 season began with the role of Leonore in Fidelio at San Francisco Opera under the direction of Eun Sun Kim. At the Staatsoper Berlin, she appeared as Elsa in Lohengrin under the baton of Thomas Guggeis. She returned to the Metropolitan Opera in a new production as Rodelina followed by Chrysothemis in Elektra at the Opéra de Paris. She ends the season at Frankfurt Opera as Giorgetta and Suor Angelica in Puccini’s Il trittico. Concert engagements take her to the Orchestre de Paris with Brahms’s German Requiem and Berlin for Bruckner’s Te Deum.

In the recent past, Ms. van den Heever presented three important role debuts: Julia in La vestale at the Theater an der Wien, Marie in Wozzeck at the Met Opera, and Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten in concert performances with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Audiences in Vienna, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Zurich, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Bordeaux celebrated the soprano for her outstanding achievements. Her vocal skills allow her a wide-ranging repertoire from Mozart (Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito, Elettra in Idomeneo, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni) and Beethoven (Leonore in Fidelio), to bel canto repertoire (Norma, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda), Verdi (Elisabetta in Don Carlo, Desdemona in Otello, Elvira in Ernani, Leonora in Il trovatore), Wagner (Elsa in Lohengrin, Senta in Der fliegende Holländer), Richard Strauss (Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten, Chrysothemis in Elektra), and Britten (Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes).

In addition to her opera engagements, Ms. van den Heever is a sought-after concert singer. Her repertoire includes Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Verdi’s Requiem, Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, and the Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss. In the concert field, she works regularly with conductors Simone Young, Kirill Petrenko, Bertrand de Billy, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Her recordings include a CD of her interpretation of Giorgetta under the baton of Bertrand de Billy on the Capriccio label and a DVD of her debut at the Met Opera as Elisabetta in Maria Stuarda.

Pianist and conductor Vlad Iftinca is a member of the 2021–2022 Staatsoper Stuttgart music staff and music director of the International Opera Studio. Between 2007 and 2014, he served as staff coach of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera, where he was part of the mainstage productions musical team until 2019. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University, Mannes School of Music, and The Juilliard School.

Mr. Iftinca has collaborated in recital with distinguished artists such as Regina Resnik, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Deborah Voigt, Thomas Hampson, Hei-Kyung Hong, Luca Pisaroni, Lisette Oropesa, Erin Morley, and Isabel Leonard. Concert venues include Oper Frankfurt, Opernhaus Zürich, Max-Joseph-Saal in Munich, Palau des Arts in Valencia, Soirées Musicales d’Arles, Beijing Music Festival, the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Los Angeles Opera, Seoul Performing Arts Center, Hong Kong Arts Festival, and Ravinia. He can be heard alongside Lisette Oropesa in her first commercially released recording, Within/Without. 

Mr. Iftinca has recently served on the music staff at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Los Angeles Opera, Dallas Opera, and Cantofest in Portugal. He was featured on the Met Stars Live in Concert series from the Royal Opera of Versailles. He has recently conducted performances of Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola, Die Zauberflöte, and Trouble in Tahiti at Staatsoper Stuttgart. In the past, he has led opera performances at the Bucharest National Opera, OPERA San Antonio, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and Oper Frankfurt. Future engagements include a Songs of America recital with baritone Thomas Hampson at the Turku Music Festival in Finland and Don Giovanni at the 2022 Ravinia Festival, where he will be a member of the music staff.