When Pretty Yende sang Pamina in Mozart’s Zauberflöte in Geneva in 2015, the South African soprano from the little town of Piet Retief charmed the Grand Théâtre audience with her effortless and fresh top notes, striking a delightful balance in her character between ingenuity and mystery. More recently in 2018 as Elvira in Bellini’s I Puritani, she gained praise from the Tages-Anzeiger for her “voice and charisma, her stamina and creativity”. After the resounding success of her 2021 live-stream recital, we hope that this time will be the right one and that the young belcantist will be able to be seen in person by her ever more enthusiastic and numerous fans. Another complication of lock-down relaxation is that as we go to press, we are unable to announce the details of Pretty Yende’s recital. One might guess that there will be more than just bel canto and that Pretty Yende has a few surprises up her sleeve that might get toes tapping and fingers clicking! Despite the wealth of musical talent and long traditions of vocal artistry that are to be found in Africa, all too few performers from the region make it to classical stardom, for reasons too many to detail here. Pretty Yende is one of the happy exceptions to this economic and cultural exclusion from what surely is all of humanity’s classical music heritage. From Mpumalanga to Milan: what a beautiful journey, Ms. Yende!