GOLDEN AGE
Pretty Yende and Nadine Sierra – opera gala

Final program Budapest

Nadine Sierra, Soprano
Francesco Demuro, Tenor
Pablo Mielgo, Conductor

I part
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Le nozze di Figaro Overture 5´

Gaetano Donizetti (1797 - 1848)
Don Pasquale
“Quel guardo il cavaliere…So anch’io la virtù magica”. Norina 7´

Lucia di Lammermoor
“Lucia perdona. Verranno a te”. Edgardo - Norina 10´

Gaetano Donizetti (1797 - 1848)
Elisir d’ amore
“Furtiva Lagrima”. Nemorino 5´

Charles Gounod (1818-1893)
Romeo et Juliette
”Ah, je veux vivre”. Juliette 6´

Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901)
Rigoletto
“La donna e mobile”. Duque de Mantua 4´

Traviata
“È strano..ah forse lui…sempre libera”. Violetta 8´

Pausa

2 Part
Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901)
Forza del Destino Overture 9´
“Parigi o cara”. Alfredo and Violetta 5´

Franz Léhar (1870-1948)
Die lustige Witwe
“Vilja-Lied”. Hanna Glawari 5´

Eduardo di Capua (1865-1917)
“O sole Mío” 5´

Consuelo Velázquez (1916-2005)
“Bésame Mucho” 4´

Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)
West Side Story
“I feel pretty” 5´

Giacomo Puccini (1797 - 1848)
Turandot
“Nessun Dorma”. Calaf 5´

Bis

Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901)
Traviata
“Brindisi” 5´

SOPRANO

"Her voice with its pure, incisive and delicate timbre radiates tenderness in the middle
register, while she floats her golden high register to the limits of audibility ." - Le Monde
Praised for her vocal beauty, seamless technique, and abundant musicality, Nadine
Sierra is being hailed as one of the most promising, young talents in opera today. She
was named the Richard Tucker Award Winner in 2017 and was awarded the 2018
Beverly Sills Artist Award by the Metropolitan Opera. Having made a string of successful
debuts at the Met, Teatro alla Scala, Opéra national de Paris, and Staatsoper Berlin, she
has become a fixture at many of the top houses around the world. In 2018, Deutsche
Grammophon/Universal Music labels released her debut album, There’s a Place for Us,
followed by a second album, Made For Opera, in 2022.
 
In the 2022/23 season, Sierra appear as Violetta (La traviata) at Metropolitan Opera
and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Gilda (Rigoletto) at Teatro di San Carlo and at the
Staatsoper Berlin, Manon at Gran Teatre del Liceu. Moreover, she makes her role debuts
as Amina (La sonnambula) and Liù (Turandot) at Teatro Real. On the concert platform,
she sings Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ein
deutsches Requiem at the Metropolitan Opera, as well as concerts and recitals in San
Francisco, Prague and Paris.
Sierra’s most recent seasons included the roles of Violetta at Maggio Musicale
Fiorentino, Lucia at Metropolitan Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Teatro di San Carlo and
Gran Teatre del Liceu, Gilda at Paris Opera and Teatro alla Scala, Adina (L'elisir
d'amore) at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) and Gilda under
the baton of Daniel Barenboim at the Staatsoper Berlin, where she also appeared as
Nannetta (Falstaff) and Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier); Susanna and Gilda at the
Metropolitan Opera, Manon and Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) at the Opéra national de
Bordeaux. Concert appearances included appearances with Berliner Philharmoniker
under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick
Nézet-Séguin; Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with Antonio
Pappano. She also performed in recital at Palm Beach Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève
and in Kansas City (Harriman-Jewell Series), and she joined Andrea Bocelli in a tour
across the States.
Other notable engagements from past seasons include the title role in Lucia di
Lammermoor at Teatro La Fenice, Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Flavia (Eliogabalo), Pamina
(Die Zauberflöte) and Norina (Don Pasquale) at Opéra National de Paris, Zerlina and
Ilia (Idomeneo) at the Metropolitan Opera, Juliette, Lucia, Musetta, Pamina and
Contessa at San Francisco Opera. In 2016, she and Leo Nucci made headlines after her
house debut in Rigoletto at Teatro alla Scala when, on opening night, they were
prompted by the audience to encore the duet, breaking a La Scala tradition dating back
to Toscanini. Among many of her concert appearances ranging from Carnegie Hall,
Arena di Verona, Musikverein in Vienna, Tanglewood and Ravinia music festivals, Dallas
Opera, Park Avenue Armory in NYCm, the soprano also had the privilege and honor of
performing twice at the U.S. Supreme Court for the Honorable Justices.
Throughout Ms. Sierra’s young career, she has taken home several awards and is the
youngest winner to date for both the Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition and
the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, as recounted by Nick Romeo in his
book Driven: Six Incredible Musical Journeys (2011), a chapter of which is devoted to
Sierra’s Grand Finals triumph. She also took home first prizes in 2010 at the George

London Competition, Gerda Lissner International Competition, and Loren Zachary
Competition, and was a recipient of a Richard Tucker Music Foundation Study Grant. In
2013, she placed first at the Neue Stimmen, Caballé, and Veronica Dunne International
Singing Competitions, and won a Richard Tucker Music Foundation Career Grant.
Ms. Sierra fell in love with opera at a young age, after watching a VHS of La bohème,
and began voice lessons at the age of six in her home state of Florida. Although she
made her professional debut as a teenager with the Palm Beach Opera, she decided to
continue studying, and received her bachelor’s degree from Mannes College the New
School for Music. Following graduation, she went on to participate in the Adler
Fellowship Program at the San Francisco Opera, forming a lasting relationship with the
company.
She has been featured in Vogue, Nylon, Bon Appetite, Opera News, on the cover of
Classical Singer magazine, and numerous international TV and print media. She
maintains an active presence on social media, where she interacts with her followers by
answering messages, comments and questions on a daily basis.

SOPRANO

With her magnetic charm, acclaimed operatic and solo performances worldwide, and a critically lauded discography, South African soprano Pretty Yende has quickly become one of the brightest stars of the classical music world.
Since making her professional operatic debut at the Latvian National Theatre in Riga as Micaela in Carmen, she has been seen at nearly all of the major theaters of the world, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Opéra National de Paris, Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Opernhaus Zürich and Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Vienna Staatsoper as well as many major concert venues.

This season, Pretty Yende returns to the Paris Opera to star in Romeo et Juliette and The Magic Flute. She makes her San Francisco Opera house debut as Violetta Valerie in Verdi’s La Traviata in the new production by Shawna Lucey. Later on she will return to Wiener Staatsoper to star in the title role in Massenet’s Manon, and as Marie in La fille du regiment. Pretty reprises the role of Michaela in Carmen at the Staatsoper Berlin. At the Staatsoper Hamburg she is making her role debut as Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and returns to all four heroines Olympia/Antonia/Giulietta/Stella in Offenbach’s Le Contes d’Hoffmann.
On the concert stage, Pretty Yende makes her return with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Carnegie Hall and Kimmel Cemter performing Mahler's Symphony No. 4 under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. This season, Ms. Yende will also make multiple recital appearances, including in Kansas, Princeton, Geneva, Naples, Gstaad, Vienna, Festival Auvers-sur-Oise. Pretty will also join Nadine Sierra in a uniquely special series of concerts around Europe.

Last season, Ms. Yende returned to Wiener Staatsoper to star as her signature role of Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata and as Elvira in Bellini’s I Puritani. She reprised Violetta at the Royal Opera House and performed the role of Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale. At the Teatro di San Carlo, Ms. Yende sang Violetta in Ferzan Özpetek’s production, and delivered a recital with pianist Michele D’Elia. Additionally, she made her debut as Olympia, Antonia, Giulietta, and Stella in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía.
On the concert stage, Pretty Yende made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra performing songs by Richard Strauss under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. She joined a star-studded roster for Washington National Opera’s “Come Home: A Celebration of Return” concert, and she performed two concerts with the Parisian Frivolities, first at the Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne and then at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. She perform selected arias with the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra in Czechia. At the Wiener Konzerthaus, she joined soprano Nadine Sierra for a concert with the Slowakische Philharmonie and conductor Riccardo Frizza.

In 2020/21 Ms. Yende made her successful house debut at the Wiener Staatsoper as Adina in L’elisir d’amore and later sang Violetta in Simon Stone’s acclaimed production of La Traviata. She reprised Violetta several times: at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Patrick Bannwart’s production; at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in David McVicar’s production; and at Teatro Massimo di Palermo, marking her much-anticipated house debut. Ms. Yende returned to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées to star as Amina in Bellini’s La sonnambula, featuring a new production by Rolando Villazón.
Yende made her highly anticipated house debut at Teatro di San Carlo performing in a special Mozart and Bel canto Gala concert led by Giacomo Sagripanti. She also performed in the Metropolitan Opera’s “New Year’s Eve Gala Live in Concert,” streamed live from the Parktheater in Augsburg, Germany. Ms. Yende shared the stage with tenor Benjamin Bernheim for a recital with the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, led by Sascha Goetzel. Additionally, she returned to Paris for the annual “Concert de Paris” to celebrate Bastille Day.
In the 2019/20 season, Ms. Yende returned to Paris for two highly anticipated role debuts: Violetta in a new production of La Traviata by Simon Stone, and the title role in Manon, featuring a new production by Vincent Huguet. On the concert stage, Ms. Yende embarked on a solo recital tour, making stops at Oper Frankfurt, the Opernhaus Zürich, Smetana Hall in Prague, and the Barbican in London, and Carnegie Hall in New York.
Ms. Yende began the 2018/19 season with her return to Barcelona as Elvira in I Puritani. She returned to The Metropolitan Opera as Marie in La fille du Regiment, and sang her first Leïla in Les Pêcheurs de Perles, receiving critical acclaim from the New York Times: “In the role of Leïla, suppressed erotic longing is sublimated into pure vocalism lavishly ornamented with arabesques and grace notes.” Shortly thereafter, she appeared at the Opéra national de Paris as Norina in Don Pasquale, portrayed her first Amina in La sonnambula at Opernhaus Zürich, and returned to the Bayerische Staatsoper to sing the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor and as Adina in L’elisir d’amore.

Her rise into the global stage includes highlights from her acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut, stepping in as the Countess Adele in Le Comte Ory;
her role and house debut as Marie in La fille du Régiment at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville;
debuts at Opéra national de Paris as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia,
the Gran Teatre del Liceu as Norina in Don Pasquale,
with the Los Angeles Opera as Micaëla in Carmen,
at Staatsoper Hamburg as Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia,
and her debut at the Theater an der Wien as Countess Adèle.

Additional highlights include Rosina, Adina, the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, Elvira in I Puritani, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at the Met; Adina at the Royal Opera House; Lucia at the Opéra national de Paris and Deutsche Oper Berlin; Adina at the Staatsoper Berlin; Pamina at the Grand Théâtre de Genève; Elvira at Opernhaus Zürich; Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro at Los Angeles Opera; Countess Adèle and Musetta in La Bohème at Teatro alla Scala; her role debut as Teresa in Benvenuto Cellini in Paris; and Lucia di Lammermoor in concert at the Cape Town Opera.

Highlights on the concert stage include her Carnegie Hall recital debut with pianist Kamal Khan, with the New York Times acclaiming: “A gracefulness that can seem decidedly divine seems to radiate from Ms. Yende.” She later returned to Carnegie Hall to join the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for a performance of Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. Ms. Yende has presented concerts in Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Johannesburg, South Africa, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands and Prague.
In 2016, she released her debut album “A Journey” for Sony Classical which won several awards including 2017 International Opera Award – Best Recording (Solo Recital) as well as an Echo award for best newcomer at the Echo Klassik Awards 2017 as well as a first for an opera singer in her home country being awarded International Achiever Award at the South African Metro FM Awards. She appeared as the musical guest on several television shows including “The Late Show” with Steven Colbert, “The Wendy Williams Show,” and “Good Morning America.” She released her second solo album titled “Dreams” one year later on Sony Classical, which won her the Readers’ Choice Award at the 2018 International Opera Awards, with Opera Now raving: “South African Yende has a delicious instrument, with a youthful quiver of passion to it, and a wonderfully secure technique.”
A 2011 graduate of the Young Artists Accademia of the Teatro alla Scala, Yende made her debut with the company in 2010 as Berenice in Rossini’s L’Occasione fa il Ladro. In 2010, she became the first artist in the history of the Belvedere competition to win top prize in every category, and went on to win First Prize in the Operalia Competition in 2011.
Other prestigious awards include an Award from the South African government ‘The Order of Ikhamanga in Silver’ for her excellent achievement and international acclaim in the field of world of opera and serving as a role model to aspiring young musicians and more recently being a recipient of the Italian Knighthood, ‘Ordine Stella d’Italia’, for her work in building extraordinary relations between Italy and other countries, making her the youngest South African ever awarded this accolade.

conductor - Chief Conductor of the Orquestra Simfònica de les Illes Balears

Pablo Mielgo, a conductor from Madrid, is a true world citizen with an entrepreneurial spirit and the missionto make music accessible to everyone: the agile chief of the Orquestra Simfònica de les Illes Balears (OSIB)and the Symphony of the Americas (SOTA) was immediately engaged by orchestras around the world afterhis studies at the Royal Conservatory of his hometown, the Reina Sofia School and the London GuildhallSchool of Music. Moreover, he created a network of numerous musical friendships between Berlin and Qatar,Lucerne and Los Angeles, with renowned musicians, who are now enriching the OSIB and SOTA concertprograms.Pablo Mielgo has assisted conductors such as James Conlon, Jesus Lopez Cobos, Daniel Barenboim andClaudio Abbado. He regularly conducts on the great stages of Europe such as the Wiener Musikverein, theUSA such as Carnegie Hall New York, Latin America and the Middle East. In close artistic collaboration, theMadrilenian works with orchestras such as the Simon Bolívar Symphony, the Arena di Verona and the QatarPhilharmonic as well as with artists such as Juan Diego Florez, the Labeque sisters, Pierre-Laurent Aimard,Emmanuel Pahud, Midori, Khatia Buniatishvili, Julian Rachlin or Radovan Vlatkovic.Since 2005 he has been the musical and artistic director of the SaludArte Foundation, which aims to bringabout social change through music. Pablo Mielgo launched several musical events with great internationalacclaim including the Festival España-Venezuela, the International Music Festival of Madrid “Madrid mesuena”, the tour of the Ibero-American Youth Orchestra through Spain and the USA, IberOpera as well as“Live, connecting the world through music”.

He collaborated with institutions such as the Teatro Real Madrid, the Miami New World Symphony, ElSistema in Venezuela and the Florida Grand Opera, National Ballet and orchestra of China among others.Pablo Mielgo is especially dedicated to the promotion of young talents. Since 2011 the coartistic director ofthe Medellin Philharmonic Academy strives to give young musicians access to musical education regardlessof parental income. Furthermore, the conductor has founded three youth orchestras since 2003: thePresjovem Youth Orchestra bringing together the best young Spanish musicians, the Iberoamerican YouthOrchestra and the Harmonia Symphony Orchestra. In cooperation with Sir Colin Davis.As chief conductor of the OSIB since 2014, and of the SOTA since 2020, he has promoted both orchestra’sdevelopment in several aspects successfully on the basis of his international experience: Pablo Mielgo hasimproved the quality of the orchestra and its programs, increased ticket sales and developed his network withguest performances, youth programs and first-rate artists.

Tenor

After his debut in 2007 in Parma with Luisa Miller, Francesco Demuro has established himself as a frequent guest on the most important opera houses worlwide, having appeared with Royal Opera House, Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Teatro alla Scala, Berlin State Opera, Opera di Roma, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Vienna State Opera, Teatro Real, La Fenice, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Teatro di San Carlo, Bavarian State Opera, Arena di Verona, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, to name but a few.

His repertoire includes leading roles in La Traviata, Rigoletto, La Bohème, Lucia di Lammermoor, Falstaff, L'Elisir d'Amore, Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Roberto Devereux, Maria Stuarda, I Puritani, Roméo et Juliette, Faust, Don Pasquale, Così fan tutte, Werther, Faust, Linda di Chamounix, La Sonnambula.

In concert, he appeared with Berliner Philharmoniker, Berlin Staatskapelle, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, NDR Leipzig, Hungarian National Philharmonic, Houston Symphony,  in a repertoire including, among others, Verdi Requiem, Mozart Requiem, Petite Messe Solennelle, Beethoven's Ninth.

Season 2022/23 sees him appear Opéra de Paris (I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Roméo et Juliette), Teatro Real (La sonnambula), Vienna State Opera (L'elisir d'amore), Hamburg State Opera (La traviata), Greek National Opera (Werther), Staatsoper Berlin (Rigoletto). 

Upcoming plans in season 2023/24 include Norma at Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, La bohème at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Maria Stuarda at Teatro di San Carlo, Médée at Teatro Real, Beatrice di Tenda at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Lucia di Lammermoor at Teatro Bellini in Catania.

Born in Porto Torres, Sardinia, he studied at the Conservatory in Sassari, before enrolling himself as a private student at the Conservatory in Cagliari, where he received lessons by soprano Elisabetta Scanu.