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Pretty Yende on the raw power of music: ‘opera is literally soul food'

Pretty Yende on the raw power of music: ‘opera is literally soul food'

And if there's anybody who can connect the crowd to the music, it's Yende. Now 40, she is currently starring in the title role of Handel's Semele at the Royal Opera House, which isn't for the faint of heart: Oliver Mears' production is a very dark interpretation of an opera that already includes kidnapping and forced marriage. 'It's a heavy tale,' Yende explains. 'Although it can seem very light, with all the nice music that Handel wrote, the actual story of my character is quite intense. What is amazing about the production is that visually you get the sense of that.'
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