METROPOLITAN ORCHESTRA
European Festival Tour
Strauss – Suite from Der Rosenkavalier
Strauss – Final Scene from Salome
Strauss – Ein Heldenleben , Op. 40
Aug 26 (London), Sep 1 (Paris)

OPÉRA NATIONAL DE PARIS / RING FESTIVAL
Wagner – Die Walküre – Sieglinde
Nov 7/17

Puccini – Turandot – Title role
PREMIERE Nov 27
Nov 30, Dec 3/6/9/12

ORCHESTRE NATIONAL DE LYON
Wagner – Wesendonck Lieder
Jan 21/23
KONZERTHAUSORCHESTER BERLIN
Final Scene from Salome
Jan 28/29/30
METROPOLITAN OPERA NEW YORK
Puts – Silent Night – Anna Sørensen
PREMIERE March 8
March 11/13/16/20/22/27, Apr 1/3
THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA
Wagner – Lohengrin – Elsa
Apr 11/18
METROPOLITAN OPERA NEW YORK
Gala
May 25
Mahler – Symphony No. 8
June 10/11/12

Biography

The French-South African soprano Elza van den Heever is one of the world's most important representatives of the dramatic soprano repertoire.

Elza van den Heever opens the 2026/27 season with performances of the title role in Turandot at Oper Frankfurt. At the Opéra national de Paris, she will sing the role of Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre . Together with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, she will perform the final scene from Salome in London and Paris under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. She will then appear at the Metropolitan Opera as Anna Sørensen in Kevin Puts' Silent Night and will also participate in the Diamond Jubilee: 60 Years at Lincoln Center Gala as well as performances of Mahler's Symphony No. 8. Elza van den Heever's concert engagements will take her to the Lyon, where she will perform Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder with the Orchestre National de Lyon unter Alexander Soddy, to Berlin with the Konzerthausorchester under Joana Mallwitz and the final scene from Salome, and to Philadelphia for concert performances of Wagner's Lohengrin under Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Among the outstanding engagements of recent seasons are her appearances at the Bayreuth Festival – her debut as Elsa in Lohengrin, the opening concert of the 2026 anniversary festival with Beethoven's 9th Symphony, and Sieglinde in the Ring des Nibelungen, all conducted by Christian Thielemann – as well as the Empress (Die Frau ohne Schatten) and Salome at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, her Sieglinde debut at La Scala in Milan under Simone Young, the Empress at the Vienna State Opera under Thielemann, and Sieglinde in the new production of Wagner's Die Walküre at the Opéra national de Paris as well as Elsa in Lohengrin at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. In addition, she made her role debuts as Elisabeth (Tannhäuser) and Senta (The Flying Dutchman) under Thomas Guggeis at the Metropolitan Opera, and Chrysothemis (Elektra) under Kirill Petrenko at the Baden-Baden Easter Festival. concert version at the Berlin Philharmonie and the San Francisco Opera, her role debut as Salome in Paris (Simone Young / Lydia Steier) and Julia in Spontini's La Vestale in a new production by Lydia Steier under the baton of Bertrand de Billy.
Audiences in Vienna, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Zurich, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Bordeaux have celebrated the soprano for her outstanding performances. Her vocal abilities allow her to embrace a wide-ranging repertoire, from Handel (Rodelinda) and Mozart (Vitellia, Elettra, Donna Anna) to Beethoven (Leonore in Fidelio), the bel canto repertoire (Norma, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda) via Verdi (Elisabetta, Desdemona, Elvira in Ernani, Leonora in Il Trovatore), Puccini (Suor Angelica, Giorgetta), Wagner (Elisabeth, Elsa, Senta, Sieglinde) and 20th century works by Strauss (Salome, the Empress, Chrysothemis) and Britten (Ellen Orford).
Elza van den Heever also maintains an extensive concert repertoire alongside her operatic engagements. It includes Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Verdi's Messa da Requiem, Brahms's A German Requiem, Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder, Bruckner's Te Deum, Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8, and Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs. In the concert repertoire, she regularly collaborates with conductors such as Simone Young, Kirill Petrenko, Bertrand de Billy, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Elza van den Heever was an ensemble member of Oper Frankfurt from 2008 to 2013, where she built an extensive repertoire. She made her sensational European debut there as Giorgetta in Puccini's Il trittico. Since then, she has been one of the most sought-after sopranos of her generation.
Her interpretation of Giorgetta, conducted by Bertrand de Billy, has been released on CD by Capriccio. Her Met debut as Elisabetta in Maria Stuarda is documented on DVD.
2026/27
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