Press

Sonya Yoncheva sang an acclaimed recital at the Metropolitan Opera with Malcolm Martineau on the piano on January 23, 2022. Read here below some of the magnificent press quotes Sonya received for her performance:

“… a day of rare diva alignment, with two star sopranos holding court in two of New York’s grandest venues: Renée Fleming at Carnegie Hall in the afternoon, and Sonya Yoncheva at the Metropolitan Opera in the evening.”
“… divadom still shows signs of life. … when Yoncheva sang the phrase “ta première larme” (“your first tear”) in a Chausson song, she slowly raised her hand to her face, as if she really believed she was wiping that larme away. Sometimes, even in opera, it’s the gesture that makes the diva.”
“At the Met, Yoncheva was given one of the dearest gifts the company can bestow on a valued artist: a solo recital on its stage. And at 40, she has become valued with dizzying swiftness. (…)
On Sunday she displayed the ease with which she can fill even the vast Met with an encompassing mood: darkly nostalgic and death-haunted, as you’d expect from her melancholy repertory. Even her sensuality brooded, compellingly joyless; Malcolm Martineau’s relative effervescence at the piano placed her gifts in high relief.
Her voice is supple… .. It feels like an instrument, in the most literal sense: a vehicle of expression… . Yoncheva gives the sense of singing to herself even when she’s not being soft.
(…)
But from the first number — Duparc’s “L’Invitation au voyage” — her interpretive intentions were intriguing, as she stretched the poem’s vision of “luxury, calm and delight” into a clear, forbidding premonition of the afterlife. With Yoncheva, details are everything: In Duparc’s “Au pays où se fait la guerre,” the repetitions of “son retour” (“his return”) at the end of each verse had a different gauzy texture, subtly increasing the complexity and tension of the illusion that a lover will come back.
A silvery sheen to “printemps” in Chausson’s “Le temps des lilas” gave a brief impression of dewy spring; there was grandeur in Donizetti’s “Depuis qu’une autre a su te plaire” without overkill. The Spanish-style ornaments in Delibes’s “Les filles de Cadix” weren’t dashed off for smiles, but were sung with intensity, turning what could be a throwaway number into an unlikely burning drama.
In a second half of Italian songs, Yoncheva was dreamy in Puccini, though her voice wanted greater size and juiciness to fill out her epic conception of “Canto d’anime.” In works by Martucci, Tosti and Verdi, her phrasing had confidence and style, a carefully constructed but persuasive evocation of naturalness; though she had a music stand in front of her throughout the evening, she sang with focus and commitment.
Tosti’s “Ideale” was particularly striking, its finale building from faintness to climax. Warmly received, she moved to classic arias for encores: a refreshingly unsappy “Donde lieta uscì” from “La Bohème”; a genuinely sexy, insinuating “Carmen” Habanera; and “Adieu, notre petite table” from “Manon,” tenderly mused.
Oh, and she spent the first half in a black gown, billowing above the bodice, and the second in white — shiny satin throughout, a dream of a diva.”
Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times

“Fans starved for prima donna star-power got a welcome double-diva dose on Sunday when Renée Fleming and Sonya Yoncheva returned to perform in New York City, each for the first time after a long pandemic-enforced absence.”
“Solo recitals at the Met began only in the early 1980s when then-Music Director James Levine, an accomplished accompanist, wanted to collaborate with artists he admired. Some of the Met’s biggest stars of the time–Leontyne Price, Renata Scotto, Marilyn Horne and Jessye Norman—appeared with Levine in recital. After two Luciano Pavarotti appearances in the mid-1990s, the company ended the tradition for a while until Peter Gelb revived it to showcase both established stars like Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann and René Pape plus those younger artists he wanted to showcase. For Yoncheva, now positioned as one of the Met’s prime stars, Sunday’s recital was a next inevitable step.
While she has always focused on opera, Yoncheva has recently begun to appear more often in concert. Like Fleming, Kaufmann and Netrebko, she was featured in one of the Met’s pandemic-prompted “Met Stars Live in Concert” streams. She then toured extensively with a program derived from her recent CD “Rebirth,” a collection of 17th century vocal music, and also gave her first zarzuela concert in Madrid. (…)
Though its text was French, Donizetti’s “Depuis qu’une autre a su te plaire” could easily have served any of his despairing Italian bel canto heroines. And the soprano concluded her program not with an expected lighthearted showstopper but with Verdi’s “L’Esule,” a grand four-part scena. Both ably displayed Yoncheva’s commanding dramatic prowess and touching gift for pathos. It’s no accident that her Met repertoire (with the exception of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta) has consisted only of Verdi and Puccini operas whose heroines die onstage!
… her smoky, covered soprano sounded in prime estate as she offered songs that were predominantly sad or mournful. Clad in a tight black gown, she began with a haunting rendition of Duparc’s famous “L’Invitation au voyage” After beguiling selections by Viardot and Chausson, the French first half concluded with an infectiously rollicking “Les filles de Cadix,” the Delibes chestnut… .”
(…)
As successful as the scheduled selections had been, her operatic encores proved the evening’s highlights. The music stand was banished, and Yoncheva vividly came alive. After Mimi’s tenderly emotional “Donde lieta uscì,” Yoncheva struggled to wrest a rose from the bouquet just handed her to assist with her slyly seductive Carmen “Habanera.” Rather than end there to raucous shouts of “brava!” she returned to melancholy with an exquisitely floated “Adieu notre petite table” from Massenet’s Manon. As the cheers of the rather sparse audience continued, she waved goodbye affectionately embracing Martineau, her superb pianist with whom she was clearly besotted.
(…)
… Fleming and Yoncheva did warm a chilly Omicron-exhausted Manhattan. Next, we eagerly await the divas’s imminent returns to the Met: Yoncheva at the end of next month in the company premiere of Verdi’s Don Carlos, Fleming this fall in Puts’s brand new adaptation of The Hours.”
Christopher Corwin, The Observer

“… a solo recital by one of opera’s hottest stars seemed just the ticket to bring opera lovers flocking to the Met. It was worth a shot and the Bulgarian soprano’s fans turned out in force. (…)
“The three encores — “Donde lieta uscì” from La bohème, the Habanera from Carmen and “Adieu notre petite table” from Manon — brought the audience to its feet. … there was full-voiced singing, passion and spontaneity… .”
“Most songs on the program dealt with love either unrequited, doomed or lost. An outburst of passion, such as in Duparc’s “La vie antérieure” with its images of living in splendor attended by bare-bodied sweet-scented slaves, was rare. The refrain in Pauline Viardot’s “Haï luli!”—little more than nonsense syllables—was lovely. There was drama in Donizetti’s “Depuis qu’une autre a su te plaire’ also, as well as trills and flare in Delibes’s “Les filles de Cadix,”… .”
“Yoncheva had made a grand entrance at the start in an elegant black dress with a long train and returned after intermission in a voluminous white gown with sparkling black floral appliqués on its bodice. At the first sight of her returning to the stage, the audience broke into applause. (…)
“Four songs by Puccini opened the second half of the recital and brought greater excitement, mainly due to the bits of verismo flash in them. Melodies from the first one, “Sole e amore” would later be incorporated into Act III of La bohème. There were beautifully spun phrases and drama in “Mentia l’avviso” which followed, and a thrilling high note in ‘Canto d’anime’. ”
Rick Perdian, New York Classical Review

“Yoncheva returned to the Metropolitan Opera stage on Sunday evening January 23 in a vocal recital of French and Italian songs accompanied by pianist Malcolm Martineau.
Yoncheva entered smiling looking radiant in a metallic black silk evening gown with large ruffles around the shoulders, her raven hair swept up in a becoming loose chignon. (…) Yoncheva circa 2022 at age 40 is a very beautiful woman with a gracious manner, interpretive insight and great musicality. (…)
Yoncheva’s French diction has hardly a trace of a Slavic accent—she received vocal training in Geneva and early in her career gained stage experience in Paris as a member of Le Jardin des Voix with Les Arts Florissants under William Christie. She not only pronounces French correctly but can think in French therefore putting the correct intention into the text.
The Duparc group consisting of “L’invitation au voyage”, “Au pays où se fait la guerre”, “La vie antérieure” and “Chanson triste” were marked by subtle shifts of mood and vocal color. The expressive tone and dark timbre suited the intimately sorrowful texts.
Yoncheva’s expansive voice and dramatic conviction made these miniature pieces into confessional monologues that drew the listener in even in such a large space as the Met auditorium. Pauline Viardot’s faux folk ballad “Haï luli!” and Chausson’s “Le temps des lilas”, from his Poème de l’Amour et de la Mer throbbed with heartbreak and loss of love. Despite the pervasive dark introspective mood, Yoncheva found contrast and specificity in the material.
The Donizetti French song “Depuis qu’une autre a su te plaire” was more outspoken about the betrayal of love with a certain Mlle. Malvina dispatching her fickle lover with a definite touch of bitterness. Her first half closer, Leo Delibes’ familiar soprano espagnolerie “Les filles de Cadix”, sparkled extra bright because Yoncheva lightened her mood while lightening her voice for the florid sections and danced around stage… .”
Yoncheva returned after intermission changed into a low-cut white silk evening gown with the bodice embroidered with black roses, her equally black hair worn down and loose around her ivory shoulders. The second half featured Italian songs by familiar opera composers like Puccini and Verdi and the salon master Paolo Tosti along with the lesser-known Giuseppe Martucci.
Yoncheva’s voice in Italian song repertoire was more open, less reined in with warmer tones. Several songs ended with full-voiced high note climaxes that were boldly attacked emerging full, secure and round-toned. The Italian texts were projected forcefully with more extroverted personality.
The early Puccini songs composed during his bohemian salad days (“Sole e amore”, “Terra e mare”, “Mentia l’avviso” and “Canto d’anime”) were adapted and revised into the score of La Bohème. This summoned pleasant memories of Yoncheva’s early Met Mimi. One could hear the influence of Debussy and impressionism on Puccini’s musical development but also sunny Italian lyricism and lilting melodies that Puccini expanded in his later operas.
Giuseppe Martucci, a contemporary of Puccini, revealed a distinct musical personality in “Al folto bosco, placida ombria” showing the influence of his German idols Richard Wagner and Johannes Brahms. The style was more classical in this strophic ballad. It is a shame Martucci never wrote operas because his setting of the text was quite theatrical and specific. Tosti’s “L’ultimo bacio” glowed with Yoncheva’s sensuality and charm… .”
Yoncheva’s encores were familiar operatic chestnuts that were performed in a relaxed and playful manner with no need for a music stand getting between her and the audience. “Donde lieta uscì” from La Bohème was feminine and lush. Yoncheva was a coquettish Carmen working the audience (and her accompanist) in the “Habañera” to everyone’s bemused delight.
The smoky sensual mezzo color of her middle voice suited the music while the silvery overlay suggested flirtatious charm. The program ended with “Adieu, notre petite table” from Massenet’s Manon sung with delicacy, femininity and intense emotion.
Yoncheva … showed the ability to capture, entertain and command the audience as only a diva can.”
Eli Jacobson, Parterre Box

“Sonya Yoncheva triumphs without taking risks at the Met, boosted by the piano of an impeccable Malcolm Martineau
“The evening opened with music by Henri Duparc, like the lovely L’invitation au voyage, where Yoncheva showed herself intimate and self-restrained, using portamentos with taste and poetry. Au pays où se fait la guerre and La vie antérieure followed, with very clean pitch and the right vibrato.
The first big applause from the public came after Haï Luli! by Pauline Viardot-García, the most expressive piece up to that moment, full of color and loving scents. “Mon bon ami devait come et je l´attends ici seulette”, Yoncheva sang in a phenomenal line.
Next, three songs by Ernest Chausson brought winds of further lyrical expansion. Shortly after, in Gaetano Donizetti’s Depuis qu’une autre a su te plaire, Yoncheva gave a very round sound with great luster in the high notes Specifically at the end of the piece, Yoncheva surprised with the phrase “Alors j’aurai cessé de vivre”, with superb support even in the upper range of the tessitura.
The singer, always supported by the pedestal of Martineau’s piano, closed the French cycle with a graceful version of Les filles de Cadix by Léo Delibes, which only lacked the castanets and in which the singer was impeccable in her agilities and where was seductive without losing her natural elegance.
Yoncheva’s is a voice with a velvety timbre, with a smooth center and very covered sounds, as is typical of Eastern voices. An instrument with a quite heavy line instrument for its size, with lustrous coating of pure lyric. (…) In her early days, she stood out in the baroque repertoire at the hands of William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, skillfully managing her great vocal endowment,(.)… The baroque school is manifested even in other repertoires, where Yoncheva knows how to use agility with precision and cleanliness.
(…)
After the break, we listened to songs by Giacomo Puccini, in which Yoncheva played with the dynamics to squeeze the expression out of the line. A conscientious work of rehearsals with Martineau is evident, since both artists articulated a unitary discourse that marked the difference between different composers in an outstanding way. This is how she manifested herself with Al folto bosco, placida ombra by Giuseppe Martucci, sung with the emotion of discovery and with the abandonment of youthful passion.
(…)
By Giuseppe Verdi, the duo of artists interpreted In solitaria Stanza, Ad una stella and L’esule, with a growing operatic character. By then, the understanding between Martineau and Yoncheva was complete, and we were able to enjoy phrases of great lyrical quality.
After a phenomenal ovation, the soprano sang three encores. The juiciest, the aria ‘Donde lieta usci’ (La Bohème), in which Yoncheva sang from the heart and left details of a great Mimí. It was followedby Carmen’s sensual ‘Habanera’, in which Yoncheva did not skimp on compliments towards Martineau, and a small fragment of ‘Adieu notre petite table’ by Massenet’s Manon, as a heartfelt farewell.
Podemos decir que Yoncheva escogió el repertorio de su recital en Nueva York de manera inteligente (…)
We can say that Yoncheva chose the repertoire of her recital in New York intelligently (…)
Carlos Javier López Sánchez, OperaWorld

“On Jan. 23, 2022, soprano Sonya Yoncheva returned to the stage of the Metropolitan Opera for a special recital of French and Italian art songs, joined by pianist Malcolm Martineau.
French Finesse
Opening the program were four selections from Henri Duparc. The first, “L’invitation au voyage,” quickly set a tender yet urgent atmosphere through the running accompaniment, over which Yoncheva delivered impassioned tones, all of which settled for a ponderous shift into the middle section, carried by gentle, lyrical phrases. The imagery of journey and rest alike were treated with great delicacy to close this opening number. The second song, “Au pays ou se fait la guerre,” was full of rich longing, relating the absence felt by one whose lover has gone to war in another land. These feelings were conveyed wonderfully by Yoncheva, as the possibility of the lover’s return heard expression through the building tempo and tremolo, a hope that was denied as the number was brought to a soft and somber conclusion.
The third number, “La vie anterieure,” featured opulent imagery in the text by Charles Baudelaire, which Yoncheva illuminated through a highly-present sense of their wonder over Martineau’s rolling arpeggios. The luxury related was ultimately darkened by feelings of dissatisfaction as the piece slowly tapered to an end. Last among the Duparc selections was “Chanson triste,” where Yoncheva excelled in the phrases of great affection which yearned for connection, such as “You will lay my anxious head, oh! Sometimes upon your lap, and you will utter to it a ballad that will seem to speak of us.”
Following this was Pauline Viardot’s “Hai luli!” This sprightly number of a parted lover carried with almost humorous charm as thoughts of possible infidelity brought forth the desire to burn the lover’s village down, her shifting concerns interrupted by the passionate, evocative calling of the title phrase, capping off with a bereft conclusion and a strong reception from the audience.
Next on the program were three songs by Ernest Chausson, the first of which, “Les temps des lilas” from “Poeme de l’Amour et de la Mer,” featured mournful, floral imagery and languid, tragic energy from Yoncheva as she reflected on a love that is no more. The second song, “Le charme,” was brief and featured an upbeat accompaniment with a highly-sensory text, which gentled beautifully with the dawning realization of love. Last was “Serenade italienne, Op. 2, No. 5,” where the calm, marine imagery was spun into a charged, romantic atmosphere, full of wave-like rises and falls in the music.
Among these French works was a seldom-heard piece from Gaetano Donizetti, published posthumously as a set in the 1970s, “Depuis qu’une autre a su te plaire.” Here the sense of both love and abandonment were taken to intoxicating heights as Yoncheva related the sorrow of a dying lover whose longing to see their beloved was expressed through a poignant vocal ache through the pleading phrases, all of this leading into a delicate and appropriate morendo.
Bringing the first half of the program to a close was Leo Delibes’ “Les filles de Cadix.” Here, the quick passionate accompaniment was matched by the sultry phrases from Yoncheva, her ornaments delivered in a relaxed yet fiery stream, bolstered by her flirtatious bearing and gestures.
Italian Artistry
The second half of the program was dedicated to Italian works, beginning with four songs from Giacomo Puccini. The first of these, “Sole e amore,” saw a fine contrast in the jaunty accompaniment and Yoncheva’s lyrical delivery of the invocation to light and love. The next number, “Land and Sea,” flowed swiftly through its imagery of a dream of the sea interrupted by the wind. The third piece, “The warning was false,” bore more anguished feelings through its longer introduction, the narrator’s desolate fears and passions eliciting tones of soaring grief from Yoncheva, as well as sighs of haunted delicacy. Rounding out the Puccini works was “Canto d’anime,” where the proud, chordal introduction softened to accentuate the building imagery of overcoming the darkness, leading into a truly powerful and sonorous conclusion.
Next on the program was Giuseppe Martucci’s “Al folto bosco, placida ombria Op. 68, No. 6.” The lush introductory material and Yoncheva’s affectionate delivery quickly melded together to re-establish the sense of love and private spaces heard in earlier selections, tinged with a sad nostalgia and a splendid sense of emotional investment in what used to be. The contrasting feelings of longing and resignation were wonderfully complemented by the darkening fall of the accompaniment as it gently transitioned back to its earlier material.
Following this were two songs by Paolo Tosti. The first song, “L’ultimo bacio,” was brief yet filled with a sweet sense of both love and absence, feelings that shone warmly through Yoncheva’s poignant expression. The second, “Ideale,” allowed Yoncheva to showcase breathtaking delicacy of tone, utilizing a delivery that was rapt in the beauty of the text while remaining present enough to feel its full effect.
Bringing the program to a close were three songs by Giuseppe Verdi. The first, “In solitaria stanza,” bore great pleading through its sustaining phrases and imagery of a scorched garden. The following song, “Ad una stella,” made a fine contrast for its cooler, gentle beauty, with Yoncheva putting great admiration into the swelling repetitions of praise, ending this invocation with a gossamer finish. The final number, “L’esule,” was an encapsulated journey in itself, heard through her enchanted, lyrical opening and utter illumination of Solera’s text with remarkable passion.
The evening’s concert saw three encores from Yoncheva and Martineau. The first, “Donde lieta usci” from Puccini’s “La boheme,” was beautifully and affectionately delivered through the phrases of bittersweet departure. The second, the “Habanera” from Bizet’s “Carmen,” saw Yoncheva utilize a relaxed, nearly conversational tone, matched with a seductive flair through her playful gestures as she toyed with Martineau. Ending the encores was “Adieu notre petite table,” from Massenet’s “Manon,” which made for a truly tender farewell as Yoncheva sweetly wrapped up the recital.
Logan Martell, OperaWire

[Photo: Ken Howard / Met Opera]