Press

Sonya Yoncheva has earned widespread acclaim for her portrayal of Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly at the Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona. Critics praised her performance as “exceptionally meritorious” (Ópera Actual), highlighting her vocal brilliance, emotional depth, and commanding stage presence.

Here is what the reviews say:

“Seven minutes of applause and great admiration from the audience for the Bulgarian soprano.
Butterfly waits and waits. Sonya Yoncheva sings “Un bel dì vedremo”, beautiful, with character and with that touch of Slavic iciness. She spends three years in poverty, refusing other offers of marriage, secretly raising the son she had and who will be the only reason of interest for the lieutenant to reappear – with his American wife – to take him away. Cio-cio-san has gone so far in surrendering his honor that he can only foreshadow his own death.
“God, what a weeper!” said the neighbor in the stalls seat. Yoncheva reveals herself as a great actress… . Already from the second act, the sum of the soprano, the libretto and the score – handled by maestro Paolo Bortolameolli in detail and perhaps with a more American than Italian approach – is an exponentially increasing catharsis.
When she brings out the child… there you see that Puccini has you in his hands, that you are going to succumb”, said another high school student with a tear on her cheekbone. Puccini has everything under control, he knows what the heroine’s destiny was and leads the audience to the scaffold. A John Williams avant-la-lettre, judging by how the orchestra sounded, with the ability to tame the emotions of the spectator.”
Six minutes of final applause gave a Liceu with 98% occupancy. They roared for Yoncheva…”
Maricel Chavarría, La Vanguardia

“The Bulgarian diva was the big winner of the revival of Madama Butterfly to the Liceu on 9 December, with fifteen performances and three excellent casts, in commemoration of the centenary of the composer’s death.
Pablo L. Rodríguez, El País

“Sonya Yoncheva’s voice gave Cio-Cio San personality and temperament, and she overcame the multiple obstacles of this complex role without any problems.”
Pablo Meléndez-Haddad, El Periódico

“Sonya Yoncheva is a soprano with an incisive timbre and an expressiveness of electric voltage in the moments of greatest dramatic intensity”
Jaume Radigales, Ara

“Sonya Yoncheva is an intense soprano”
Imma Merino, El Punt Avui

“Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva delivers a very convincing portrayal of the young geisha. Acting-wise and musically. The Violetta of La traviata is always spoken of as a paradigm of the vocal and scenic evolution of a protagonist throughout an opera, but it is not very far, in reality, from Puccini’s Butterfly. If the former requires three different sopranos to sing it in two different acts, the Japanese opera would require the experience not of three different instruments but of three different ages of life. The discovery of the other, the discovery of herself, the acceptance of the destiny to which she has been unjustly condemned. A tremendous tour de force that Yoncheva faces with an instrument of beautiful timbre, large, with enough power to easily overcome a grandiloquent and swollen pit, and a well-placed low register. Butterfly’s portrayal found in Yoncheva’s drama the most proper expression. Thus, her most moving moments came in the second act, after her famous aria, as well as in the third, whenever the protagonist referred to her own death.”
Gonzalo Lahos, Platea Magazine

“… The great success of the evening was due to soprano Sonya Yoncheva, who offered an exceptionally meritorious Cio-Cio-San, with an outstanding projection, a very beautiful timbre, a round and homogeneous voice, and a tremendous interpretation of the character. She was the most applauded, and by far, by a devoted audience…”
Fernando Sans Rivière, Ópera Actual

“In her return to the Liceu, the Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva gave a Cio-Cio San of great dramatic depth”
Javier Pérez Senz, Scherzo

“With him (the conductor,i.e.), the great star of the cast: Sonya Yoncheva, who got stronger and stronger throughout the performance and ended up being the catharsis we all expected. She has a refined timbre (…) and a very refined projection resistance, and although she was restrained in the first act, from the second, she developed a demeanor more inclined to the emotional, the last chapter being undoubtedly her highlight, an episode where she exploited her lyrical resources.”
Maria Sánchez, Bachtrack

“In this production, soprano Sonya Yoncheva shines in the role of Cio-cio-san, a young geisha caught between love and betrayal. Her rendition of “Un bel dì vedremo” is a climactic moment that evokes both hope and despair in her character. Throughout the performance, the audience witnesses the transformation of Cio-cio-san, who, after being abandoned by Lieutenant Pinkerton, is confronted with the harsh reality of her life. Yoncheva’s performance, along with that of tenor Matthew Polenzani, who plays Pinkerton, creates a palpable emotional tension that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.”
Actualidad.es

“Sonya Yoncheva was outstanding in the leading role, Cio-Cio-San, who gave us a meticulous, well-balanced, and polished performance of a character full of innocence and restrained energy. Thus, Yoncheva received great applause at the end of the performance since she had the privilege of being in the first cast and receiving a great and well-deserved ovation.”
Norman Marsà, En Platea

“It is not easy to give adequate voice to these three women who live inside Cio-Cio-San and who together make up one of the most exhausting roles in the repertoire. Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva rose well to the challenge, (…) in the third she managed to give weight and transcendence to the singing and then reached her best performance.”
Xavier Pujol, Opera-Online

“… there were moments of great tragic intensity such as “Con onor muore “prior to the harakiri performed by the protagonist, which left us speechless and in the territory of convulsion.”
Oriol Pérez Treviño, Nació

“This evening the protagonist was Sonya Yoncheva, a soprano of convincing volume and vocal color….”
Federigo Figueroa, Operaworld.es