It’s been a rollercoaster year for Pretty Yende.
This time last year the South African opera singer was propelled into the global spotlight after performing at the coronation of King Charles III, dressed in a puff-sleeved daffodil yellow Stéphane Rolland gown and Graff diamonds.
Less than three months later, her mother passed away, prompting the soprano to lose her voice and temporarily put performing on hold. Now, following a triumphant return to the stage last September, Yende is going from strength to strength.
She performed in a gala tribute at the Paris Opera last December to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Maria Callas, and later that month became the first opera singer to be named a brand ambassador for French luxury house Dior.
“Even though 2023 was really, really tough, the beauty of it was the fact that it had also so many incredible milestones,” she says in an online interview from Madrid, hours before performing with American soprano Nadine Sierra at the Teatro Real, dressed in custom Dior haute couture.
Pretty Yende in Dior haute couture.
Pierre Mouton/Courtesy of Dior
The 39-year-old is no stranger to overcoming obstacles. Just days before making history by being the first African singer to perform solo for the coronation of a British monarch, she fell and twisted her ankle on stage and arrived at Heathrow airport in a wheelchair.
“It feels bad to just fail and stay there,” Yende says of her “show must go on” mentality. She credits the example of her mother, who returned to night school after having children in order to complete her education.
“Looking at her life — never giving up, learning to drive late in her life and having her first car — we were all saying, ‘Oh wow, it’s never too late to change something. It’s never impossible to achieve anything,’” she says.