Yvonne Naef

Mezzosoprano

© Marco Borggreve
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Yvonne Naef è senza dubbio uno dei mezzosoprani drammatici più importanti e ricercati del panorama lirico attuale.
Di origine svizzera, Yvonne Naef ha debuttato in Cenerentola di Rossini; nei primi anni della sua carriera ha fatto parte della compagnia stabile dei Teatri di San Gallo e Wiesbaden.
Dopo avere fatto il suo debutto sulla scena internazionale come Azucena in Il Trovatore al Covent Garden, è ospite regolare dei più importanti teatri europei e del mondo. Ha cantato Un ballo in maschera e Kovanschina al Teatro dell’Opera di Zurigo, Boris Godunov, La vera storia di Berio, Il Trovatore e Carmen all’Opera di Amburgo, Les Troyens e Don Carlo al Salzburg Festival, Oedipus Rex al Théatre de la Monnaie di Bruxelles, il Ring a Bayreuth.
Ha cantato Les contes d’Hoffmann alla Scala di Milano, Tannhauser e Don Carlo a Vienna, Aida e Il Trovatore a Berlino, Anna Bolena all’Opéra di Montecarlo; si segnala nel 2004 l’importantissimo debutto al Met cantando Fricka in L’oro del Reno e La Valchiria, e Waltraute in Il crepuscolo degli Dei.
Solista raffinata e versatile, Yvonne Naef ha un repertorio vastissimo che spazia dalla musica antica ai compositori contemporanei.
Ha cantato sotto la direzione di direttori d’orchestra come James Levine, Christian Thielemann, Lorin Maazel, Sylvain Cambreling, Gerd Albrecht, Michael Gielen, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Dennis Russell Davies, Franz Welser-Möst, Carlo Rizzi, Valeri Gergiev, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Nello Santi, Sir Roger Norrington, Christoph Eschenbach, Kent Nagano e Jeffrey Tate in numerosissime sale da concerto e festivals in tutto il mondo, come Musikverein e Konzerthaus a Vienna, Salzburg Festival, Gasteig a Monaco, Berliner Philharmoniker, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Musikhalle di Amburgo, Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, Salle Pleyel a Parigi, Luzerne Music Festival, Tanglewood Festival e la Carnegie Hall.

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Has been acclaimed as one of the most important and sought after dramatic mezzos of our time upon her debut as Azucena in the new production of Verdi’s IL TROVATORE at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and later she returned to the company for Thomas’ HAMLET.
March 2004 marked yet another milestone in her career when she bowed for the first time at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, singing Fricka in both, RHEINGOLD and WALKÜRE and Waltraute in GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG und the musical direction of James Levine.
Being a regular guest with the foremost operatic stages and concert halls around the globe she has been seen in new productions with Zurich Opera (UN BALLO IN MASCHERA, KHOVANSHCHINA), with Hamburg State Opera (BORIS GODUNOV, Berio’s LA VERA STORIA, IL TROVATORE, CARMEN), Salzburg Festival (LES TROYENS, DON CARLO), the Théâtre de la Monnaie (ŒDIPUS REX) and Bayreuth Festival (RING). She has sung at the Teatro alla Scala (LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN), the Vienna State Opera (TANNHÄUSER, DON CARLO), the Deutsche Oper Berlin (AIDA, IL TROVATORE), the Monte Carlo Opera (ANNA BOLENA), the Nederlandse Opera, the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse and at London’s Royal Albert Hall (RHEINGOLD in concert with Sir Simon Rattle). The most recent seasons engagements include new productions of TRISTAN UND ISOLDE with the Opéra National de Paris, Dukas’ ARIANE ET BARBE-BLEUE and UN BALLO IN MASCHERA with Zurich Opera, as well as her return to the Metropolitan Opera for further performances of WALKÜRE along with various concerts in Paris, London, Zurich, Hamburg, Vienna, Tanglewood, Boston and New York.
Being a very fine and versatile concert soloist, she performs a repertoire ranging from Old Music to Contemporary composers.
Yvonne Naef has worked with conductors such as James Levine, Christian Thielemann, Lorin Maazel, Sylvain Cambreling, Gerd Albrecht, Michael Gielen, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Dennis Russell Davies, Franz Welser-Möst, Carlo Rizzi, Valeri Gergiev, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Nello Santi, Sir Roger Norrington, Christoph Eschenbach, Kent Nagano and Jeffrey Tate at Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Salzburg Festival, at the Gasteig in Munich, the Philharmony in Berlin, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Hamburg’s Musikhalle, Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, Salle Pleyel in Paris, Lucerne Music Festival and Tanglewood Festival – her debut at Carnegie Hall will follow later in 2004.
A native of Switzerland she made her stage debut in Rossinis’ CENERENTOLA and in the early years of her career, she was a member of the opera companies of St. Gallen/Switzerland and Wiesbaden/Germany.