Press
Sonya Yoncheva received several rave reviews for her Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with the Opéra Royal de Versailles in Versailles, Toulouse, Madrid and Oviedo:
“Sonya Yoncheva was eagerly awaited as Dido. To say that she did not disappoint would be an understatement. (…)
… the dramatic intensity of each scene calls for a powerful, homogenous voice with a consistent, but not too dark, low register. The Bulgarian soprano possesses all this, combined with sobriety of expression, purity of line, and length of breath, enabling her to give full emotional expression to the poignant “When I am laid in earth”.
Jacques Bonnaure, Opéra Magazine
“… diva Sonya Yoncheva triumphs as the Queen of Carthage with her dazzling, wounded femininity.”
“… a breathless lamento, somewhere between murmuring and despair, with an intelligence and subtlety in the ornaments that sound like so many tears shed by this prestigious Queen of Carthage. This Liebestod alone is a must-see at Versailles these days.”
Emmanuel Dupuy, Diapason
“There was a great desire to see and hear Sonya Yoncheva in the capital of the Principality. Her popularity, charisma, and fame acquired in recent years tinged this opening day with a very special halo. (…)
The Bulgarian singer went from less to more throughout the opera, her voice – darkened by the inexorable passage of time -, presents a meaty timbre that the soprano intelligently handled… . Her diminuendos on her high notes and expressive interpretation of the famous lament “When I’m laid in earth” moved an audience completely devoted to Yoncheva’s skill and the dramatic outcome of the opera.”
Jonathan Mallada Álvarez, La nueva España
“Yoncheva queen at the Auditorio Príncipe Felipe
“… the mediatic soprano Sonya Yoncheva took all the spotlight. The Bulgarian soprano was a more than correct Dido: her meaty timbre and powerful central register allowed her to face the role with wonderful results, shining in the famous lament “When I’m laid in earth,” full of expressiveness thanks to some high notes sung with incredible pianissimos and the elegance of her phrasing.”
Jonathan Mallada, Ópera Actual
“… Sonya Yoncheva as a Dido with expressive phrasing and agile dramatic timbre… .”
Augustin Blanco Bazán, Ritmo
“As for Sonya Yoncheva, her performance as Dido follows a marvelous upward trajectory. … grandiose in anger, she plays the scorned queen with infinite delicacy. Just after the quarreling scene between the former lovers, we witness a breathtaking, wonderful moment: Dido announces her inevitable death, and Sonya Yoncheva is incredibly moving, all restraint and delicacy.”
Charlotte Segonzac, Avant-Scène Opéra
“After a much-appreciated warm-up tour at the Capitole de Toulouse, Sonya Yoncheva and the forces of the Opéra Royal de Versailles take up residence at the same opera house for five performances…
A triumphant welcome to the evening’s diva. Sonya Yoncheva takes on a role tailored to her current tessitura, where her nostalgic timbre embraces Dido’s amorous feelings as much as her desperate abandon. She dominates the stage with a volume and projection unusual in Purcell. This extra comfort gives her a great deal of freedom to embody the queen in all her aspects.”
Yannick Boussaert, Forum Opéra
“So yes, Sonya Yoncheva may be the star of the evening, but she is wholly integrated into the troupe’s energy with her magnificent vocal means. The slightest vocal emission gives an impression of extended time, of the depth of her ability to sustain a line, on the brink of flowing improvisation. The notes tell the story and expose themselves, and the powerful low notes provide a dense display of inflections. Dido’s death, laced with a quasi-simplistic sorrow of humble ornamentation, achieves the tour de force of concluding her performance with the feel of a nursery rhyme, in a single musical movement.”
Thibault Vicq, Opera Online
“In keeping with a consistent policy of combining internationally renowned artists with an ensemble of young singers, the Royal Opera presented Sonya Yoncheva as a passionately phrased Dido aided by a secure dramatic timbre. Her characterization was not that of a languid and insecure lover but that of a protesting clairvoyant who, like Cassandra, foresees from the outset the tragic end of her story.”
Augustin Blanco Bazán, Mundoclasico.com
“The cast included the great Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva in the role of the queen, which is a guarantee of the highest quality. Yoncheva dominates the role with her fleshy timbre, wide register and technical mastery for the middle voices.”
Ángel Camarero, Filtracion.es
“And who could resist Sonya Yoncheva, of whom, if really necessary, we would only remember the final “When I am laid in earth”, suspended time, a funereal chaconne which we would like never to end. It all began in the first act with a languid “Ah Belinda!”. For this concluding scene, there are no more hesitations in the voice, no more artifice, only pain elevated to dignity. The voice bewitches us; we hear the shimmer of the ultimate resistance to love, with that indescribable warm breath accompanying long, spun sounds.
Sonya Yoncheva returns to a repertoire she has explored extensively since participating in William Christie’s Jardin des Voix (3rd edition). How far she has come, and how wonderful to return to her first love in this way.”
Thierry Verger, Forum Opéra
“Sonya Yoncheva embodies Dido with panache and grandeur, and at her side, Halidou Nombre is an impressive Aeneas. Their duet hits the nail on the head and touches the audience.”
Marc Laborde, Utmisol
“In this production, we did not miss the stage, as there was good interaction between the artists to try to dismiss the concept of “opera in concert” and a real joy for all music lovers with an almost full house in the auditorium “carbayón”, on the other hand, expected by the presence of the media and acclaimed Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva (Plovdiv, 1981) after her appearance last Tuesday on the David Broncano TVE program “La revuelta” that has filled social networks and pages of all kinds, giving priceless publicity to the event.
Considered an absolute masterpiece of English baroque opera composed by the man known as “the British Orpheus”, Purcell deploys in it all his art of the marvelous and the tragic between heartbreaking laments and evil laughter where “la Yoncheva” plays this emblematic role of seduction and spite as Dido is, within a vast repertoire where the baroque also has its place next to the iconic roles of soprano and even Mahler, which have led her to triumph around the world. She was the true diva (in rigorous mourning) who monopolized the success of a somewhat uneven baroque show with the Polish violinist and conductor Stefan Plewniak leading the Choir and Orchestra of the Royal Opera of Versailles, much better than the varied vocal cast, all specialized in this historical period.
The Bulgarian soprano was comfortable in her regal role, with a splendid vocal quality, beautiful color, full-bodied throughout the registers, and a tessitura that suits her very well (…). She was well matched in her duets and stood head and shoulders above her fellow cast members, dominating the scene and “devouring” an Aeneas who failed to fall in love.”
Pablo Fernández Siana, Opera World
“Her personality is powerful, as is her sense of comedy; it is not plausible that Aeneas, despite witchcraft, would abandon such a woman.”
Santiago Martín Bermúdez, Scherzo
“The great protagonist, core and raison d’être of this performance was the soprano Sonya Yoncheva, one of the divas of the current opera world and who arrived, in addition, boosted by her recent appearance in a popular television program and its corresponding repercussion in social networks. From her entrance, Yoncheva showed her majestic manner, typical of the queen she interprets, and her high-quality, large, flowing voice, with a beautiful and enameled timbre and a round and meaty middle register. The role’s tessitura is comfortable for her, and she produced high-quality sound and effect in the hall. … in Dido’s splendid lament “When I’m laid in earth” she achieved a good moment of expressive concentration supported by her charisma.”
Raúl Chamorro Mena, Codalario
“Purcell’s brief, intense epic: Sonya Yoncheva leads a superb Dido and Aeneas in Madrid.”
“The Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva is trending topic these days in Spain due to the interview that she gave to the famous presenter David Broncano in his program “La Revuelta” on the Spanish Television last Monday. But for opera-goers, she is a fairly well-known figure. Here in Madrid, she has performed very frequently, she sang Imogene in Bellini’s Il Pirata with Javier Camarena at the Teatro Reañ, she made her debut in zarzuela with a great concert, in the same name theatre in 2021, she sang Giordano’s opera Siberia in 2023, and she participated in Plácido Domingo’s return to the Teatro Real, among others. Now she returns with Henry Purcell’s masterpiece “Dido and Aeneas” at the Auditorio Nacional de Música. (…)
In the role of Dido, Sonya Yoncheva has a dark and big voice for what is usually found today in this kind of repertoire. Although she has already sung this opera at least once, in Moscow in 2010 with Christie, she not only made herself heard above everyone else in front of the small orchestra and her vocal style, but at the beginning, sometimes it seemed as if the performance was designed to be suitable for her. Her entrance in “Ah, Belinda” was truly beautiful, with her most dramatic tone, singing the piece with an elegiac sensitivity, in an exquisite way. Then in the second act she sang with a dramatic coloratura in her brief intervention “The skies are clouded, Hark!” In the third act, she approached her big scene with great dramatism, and thus the famous final aria “When I am laid in Earth” she sang with dedication and drama… a magical moment … .”
Emociones Líricas
“Sonya Yoncheva was the star of the evening; although her part is not extremely predominant, it needs a flexible, trained voice that knows how to communicate with the partners and the audience. The presentation is a continuum where the singers enter and exit the stage to imbue the show with a sense of theatricality and movement.
Yoncheva has a beautiful legato, good abdominal support, fiato, technique, a fine singing line, elegance and beauty in the hand to hand and theatrical, handles with ease a devilish role because it is also included in the geography of the heroines without future and opera in general… .”
Alicia Perris, Operaclick
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Sonya Yoncheva will return to Spain in November, presenting her all new concert program Marie-Antoinette with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants. She spoke with Pascal Alquier from La Depêche about the upcoming concerts in Paris (November 1) and Toulouse (November 5). You can read the interview on the following link:
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