I was shocked to read of the death of Yvonne Naef on December 18th, 2025, at the age of 68.
A native of Switzerland, Yvonne Naef had a vast repertoire of operatic roles, from the great mezzo-soprano roles of Verdi and Wagner to such French operas as Ariane et Barbe-Bleue, Carmen, Les Troyens and La damnation de Faust. Her extensive concert repertoire ranged from Bach to Boulez, with a special affinity for Mahler. The list of conductors she worked with is mind-boggling: Marin Alsop, Pierre Boulez, Semyon Bychkov, Sylvain Cambreling, Gustavo Dudamel, Christoph Eschenbach, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, James Levine, Kent Nagano, Franz Welser-Möst, James Conlon, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Daniele Gatti, Michael Gielen, Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, Philipp Jordan, Marc Minkowski, Sir Simon Rattle, Georges Prêtre and Michael Tilson Thomas
At the Metropolitan Opera, where she debuted in 2004 as Fricka in Das Rheingold, her repertoire was limited to both Frickas plus Waltraute in the RING Cycle, plus three performances as Amneris. In saw – and loved – her in her RING roles.
Among Ms. Naef’s recordings are Il Trovatore, Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, Othmar Schoeck’s Penthesilea, Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and Messiaen’s Poèmes pour Mi. Her solo albums of songs by Berlioz and Wagner are captivating.
In addition to her singing career, Yvonne Naef was a lecturer for singing at the Zurich University of the Arts.
Yvonne Naef sings Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody here.
And Der Engel from Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder here.
Oberon's Glade 