Siphokazi Molteno

Biography

Formidable South African mezzo-soprano Siphokazi Molteno, on the precipice of a major career, 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, The Guardian’s Rian Evans raved: “For many – and I include myself among them – Molteno’s 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 right through her considerable vocal range in Octavian’s aria ‘Wie du warst’ from Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier. An intensity of demeanour disappeared when, in her last aria, Rossini’s ‘Una voce poco fa’ – more usually a soprano lollipop – she was relaxed, comfortably comic and showing herself to be a mezzo with knockout coloratura, a rare talent.”