Born: November 9, 1957 - Switzerland

The Swiss contralto, Yvonne Naef, studied musicology and singing in Zürich, Bazel and Mannheim. Following several student awards, she first received wider attention in 1987 at the renowned Maria Callas competition in Athens, where she was awarded second place in the category oratorio/song.

Early in her career, as a member of the opera houses of St. Gallen and Wiesbaden, Yvonne Naef sang roles such as Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Adalgisa in Norma, and also the leading role in Georges Bizet's Carmen.

The international press became interested in Yvonne Naef in 1994 in conjunction with a new production of Donizetti's Anna Bolena at the Monte Carlo Opera, where Yvonne Naef achieved great personal success as Giovanna Seymour. In the following year, she debuted as Giulietta in Hoffmanns Erzählungen at the Scala in Milan. In recent years, the artist has appeared regularly at major European opera houses and at the festivals in Bayreuth and Salzburg.

Yvonne Naef is also much in demand as a concert singer, whose repertoire includes works ranging from Bach to Shostakovich. Plans for the near future include new productions such as Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, a debut as Maina Mnishek in a new production of Boris Godunov at the Staatsoper in Hamburg, and as Marfa in the new production of Chowanschtschina in Zürich.

Source: Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester Website (2001); OPERAlmanc Mailing List (by Walter R. Lonis, November 2004)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (August 2001, November 2004)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Georg Christoph Biller

Alto

BWV 248

Beat Raaflaub

Alto

BWV 248/1-3

Helmuth Rilling

Alto

BWV 205

Links to other Sites

Künstler Programm B (Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester)

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