{"id":2942,"date":"2023-07-31T16:52:51","date_gmt":"2023-07-31T14:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csam.tobetold.film\/?p=2942"},"modified":"2025-09-09T13:43:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T11:43:19","slug":"siphokazi-molteno","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/csam.tobetold.film\/en\/artists\/mezzo_soprano\/siphokazi-molteno\/","title":{"rendered":"Siphokazi Molteno"},"content":{"rendered":"

Formidable South African mezzo-soprano Siphokazi Molteno is poised to become one of the most important voices of her generation. Of her performances in the 2023 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World,\u00a0The Guardian<\/em>\u2019s Rian Evans raved: \u201cFor many \u2013 and I include myself among them \u2013 Molteno\u2019s glorious mezzo was the most memorable voice and, across the week, she showed an unusually wide choice of repertoire, from Mahler to South African songs and, in this final, the richness ran right through her considerable vocal range in Octavian\u2019s aria \u2018Wie du warst\u2019 from Strauss\u2019s\u00a0Der Rosenkavalier<\/em><\/strong>. An intensity of demeanour disappeared when, in her last aria, Rossini\u2019s \u2018Una voce poco fa\u2019 \u2013 more usually a soprano lollipop \u2013 she was relaxed, comfortably comic and showing herself to be a mezzo with knockout coloratura, a rare talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the 2025-26 season, she returns to the Metropolitan Opera as La Bersi in Andrea Ch\u00e9nier<\/em><\/strong> alongside Piotr Becza\u0142a and Sonya Yoncheva, conducted by Daniele Rustioni. The production is broadcast worldwide \u201cLive in HD\u201d in cinemas. Molteno makes her company debut at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City in the title role of La cenerentola<\/em><\/strong> and in her debut with the Calgary Opera she reprises the role of Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia<\/em><\/strong>. On the concert stage, she makes her highly anticipated debut with the LA Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel in Die Walk\u00fcre<\/em><\/strong> and gives a solo recital at Wigmore Hall with her frequent recital partner, pianist Kamal Khan.<\/p>\n

Highlights of recent seasons include her Carnegie Hall debut with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra\u2019s Chamber Ensemble, performing Ravel\u2019s Chansons Mad\u00e9casses<\/em><\/strong> and Brahms\u2019 Two Songs for Voice, Viola and Piano, Op. 91,<\/em><\/strong> as part of the Voices from South Africa series. She debuted with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Fabio Luisi as soloist in the Stabat Mater<\/em><\/strong> of American composer Julia Perry and starred alongside Michael Spyres and the Tonk\u00fcnstler-Orchestra in the \u201cSummer Night Gala\u201d at the Grafenegg Festival in Austria.\u00a0She was the mezzo-soprano soloist in Beethoven\u2019s Symphony No. 9<\/em><\/strong> with Camerata Notturna, Haydn\u2019s Theresienmesse<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0and Mozart\u2019s\u00a0Sparrow Mass<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0with the New Choral Society, Haydn\u2019s\u00a0Missa Sancti Nicolai<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>and Mozart\u2019s\u00a0Coronation Mass<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0with St. George\u2019s Cathedral Cape Town, and Verdi\u2019s Requiem<\/em><\/strong> with Dar Choral Society Tanzania.\u00a0She made her European solo recital debut in France under the auspices of Estivales de Musique en M\u00e9doc.<\/p>\n

Further highlights include her debut with the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Don Giovanni\u2019s Inferno<\/em><\/strong>, a new opera by Simon Steen-Andersen, and her house and role debut as Rosina in\u00a0Il barbiere di Siviglia<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0with Opera Saratoga and with the Dallas Opera as Flora in La traviata<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

As an ensemble member of Teatro Regio di Torino in the 2024-25 season, Molteno debuted as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro<\/em><\/strong>, followed by performances of Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia<\/em><\/strong>, Maddalena and Giovanna in Rigoletto<\/em><\/strong>, Yelena Ivanovna Popova in William Walton\u2019s rarely-performed The Bear<\/em><\/strong>, and La volpe in Pierangelo Valtinoni\u2019s operatic setting of Antoine de Saint-Exup\u00e9ry\u2019s beloved Il piccolo principe<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

An alumna of the Metropolitan Opera\u2019s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Siphokazi Molteno made her mainstage Met debut as Flora in\u00a0La traviata<\/em><\/strong> followed by Soeur Mathilde in Dialogues des Carm\u00e9lites<\/em><\/strong>. During her tenure as a member of the Young Artist Program at Cape Town Opera, Siphokazi performed roles including Romeo in\u00a0I Capuleti e i Montecchi<\/em><\/strong>, Dorabella in\u00a0Cos\u00ec fan tutte<\/em><\/strong>, and Third Lady in\u00a0The Magic Flute<\/em><\/strong>. She was twice the recipient of the Fleur Du Cap Theatre Award for \u201cBest Performance in an Opera\u201d (Female Division) for her performances as Dorabella (2022) and Romeo (2020). Additionally, she was a world finalist in the Operalia Competition, was honored with the Rising Star Award in the 2020 Glyndebourne Opera Cup, and received both the Ana Mar\u00eda Mart\u00ednez Encouragement Award and the Audience Choice Award at Houston Grand Opera\u2019s Eleanor McCollum Competition in 2017.<\/p>\n

Siphokazi Molteno holds degrees from Nelson Mandela University and the University of Cape Town, where she was under the tutelage of Patrick Tikolo. During her studies, she performed the title role in\u00a0La cenerentola<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0and Cherubino in\u00a0Le nozze di Figaro<\/em><\/strong>. She has also been a participant in summer programs at the Ravinia Festival, the Aspen Music Festival and the Crescendo Summer Institute.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a9 CSAM GmbH, August 2025<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Formidable South African mezzo-soprano Siphokazi Molteno is poised to become one of the most important voices of her generation. Of her performances in the 2023 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World,\u00a0The Guardian\u2019s Rian Evans raved: \u201cFor many \u2013 and I include myself among them \u2013 Molteno\u2019s glorious mezzo was the most memorable voice and, across the week, she showed an unusually wide choice of repertoire, from Mahler to South African songs and, in this final, the richness ran right through her considerable vocal range in Octavian\u2019s aria \u2018Wie du warst\u2019 from Strauss\u2019s\u00a0Der Rosenkavalier. An intensity of demeanour disappeared when, in her last aria, Rossini\u2019s \u2018Una voce poco fa\u2019 \u2013 more usually a soprano lollipop \u2013 she was relaxed, comfortably comic and showing herself to be a mezzo with knockout coloratura, a rare talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the 2025-26 season, she returns to the Metropolitan Opera as La Bersi in Andrea Ch\u00e9nier alongside Piotr Becza\u0142a and Sonya Yoncheva, conducted by Daniele Rustioni. The production is broadcast worldwide \u201cLive in HD\u201d in cinemas. Molteno makes her company debut at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City in the title role of La cenerentola and in her debut with the Calgary Opera she reprises the role of Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia. On the concert stage, she makes her highly anticipated debut with the LA Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel in Die Walk\u00fcre and gives a solo recital at Wigmore Hall with her frequent recital partner, pianist Kamal Khan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2970,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mezzo_soprano"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/csam.tobetold.film\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/csam.tobetold.film\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/csam.tobetold.film\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csam.tobetold.film\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csam.tobetold.film\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2942"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/csam.tobetold.film\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9769,"href":"https:\/\/csam.tobetold.film\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2942\/revisions\/9769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csam.tobetold.film\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/csam.tobetold.film\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csam.tobetold.film\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csam.tobetold.film\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}