Elza van den Heever is one of the most sought after sopranos in the world. The role of Hélène, which she is singing for the first time, is her last role as a member of the ensemble at Oper Frankfurt, which she joined in 2008/09. She recently thrilled audiences here with Elektra in the new production of Idomeneo. She first sang Elisabetta in Maria Stuarda here in concert before making her debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York with the same role last new year's eve. This artist joined the ensemble at Oper Frankfurt in 2008/09 after making her triumphal European debut here as Giorgetta in Puccini’s Il trittico the year before. Roles with which she has enjoyed great success here since then have included Desdemona in Otello, Antonia in Hoffmanns Erzählungen/The Tales of Hoffmann, Elisabeth de Valois in Don Carlo, Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito, Elsa von Brabant in Lohengrin (all new productions) and Anna Bolena in concert. Her first main role was Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), which she sang at short notice in 2007 in San Francisco, where she was a member of the Merola Program. She went on to sing the role in Frankfurt, Arizona, Santa Fe and Hamburg and will be singing in at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich in September 2013. Elza van den Heever won the 2008 International Wagner Competition in Seattle. She is a regular guest at the Opéra National de Bordeaux (title role in Alcina, Elettra in Idomeneo, the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos and Leonora in Il trovatore) and other recent engagements have taken her to the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich (Elsa von Brabant), the Opéra National de Paris (Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte), Theater an der Wien (Agathe in Der Freischütz), Dallas Opera (Fiordiligi), the Lyric Opera of Chicago (Armida in Rinaldo) and Canadian Opera Company in Toronto (Leonora in Il Trovatore).