One of several South African operatic singers to come to prominence in the 2000s and 2010s, Pretty Yende, a Zulu from the town of Piet Retief near the Swazi border, may have what it takes to outlast the first flush of stardom, and that's precisely because she has taken it slow and mastered one thing before moving on to another. She first came on the scene in 2009, but A Journey, her first album, did not appear until 2016. In between came a series of increasingly prominent operatic roles, including three acclaimed turns at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The concept of A Journey is unique: the program reflects milestones -- roles, prize victories, and even the ready-for-prime-time story of how Yende got interested in opera after hearing a British Airways commercial -- in Yende's career thus far. The pieces involved are all pretty common, but this gives the program a personal quality not found in debuts in which the singer attempts something purely standard. Yende started out singing operetta, a background that's still evident in her sound. Her takes on Rossini and Bellini, and, going later to the "Flower Duet" from Lakmé, are both agile and creamy. And the advantage of a program like this one is that you get to hear the stages of growth in Yende's voice, even if not in real time: sample Donizetti's "Ancor non giunse!" from Lucia di Lammermoor to hear what's coming in the future. She is perhaps not as immediately charismatic here as in the bel canto numbers, but she is solid. With restrained accompaniment from the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI under Marco Armiliato, this is an enjoyable collection of major Italian and French opera pieces for anyone, and just maybe the birth of a big star.
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