Next time you roll your eyes at a British Airways ad, remember that if Pretty Yende hadn’t heard one as a teenager she’d probably be an accountant, as per her previous life plan, rather than a leader among a new wave of South African opera singers. That ubiquitous Flower Duet from Lakmé is on this portrait disc, but Yende’s lustrous, appealingly forward soprano tone and somersaulting vocal agility are showcased far more effectively by the other six numbers, which include scenes from Bellini’s Beatrice di Tenda and I Puritani, alongside Donizetti and Rossini: Una Voce Poco Fa has mischievous embellishments galore. Marco Armiliato and his Italian orchestra are serviceable accompanists. Yende’s tuning can be approximate, and there’s not a great deal of difference in characterisation between, say, Gounod’s Juliette, steeling herself to swallow the sleeping potion, and Rossini’s melancholy yet ultimately comic Countess Adèle; but there’s definitely something winning about Yende’s fearless, can-do singing.
