Press

“… grandiose voices… .”
“… the consistently good to phenomenal singing.
Above all, Sonya Yoncheva not only succeeds vocally in credibly portraying Iolanta’s emotional transformation with all the ingredients of lyricism and drama. She also combines vocal splendor with show-stopping acting to create a profound character portrait.”
Ljubiša Tošić, Der Standard

“Sokhiev also inspired the singers to deliver impressive performances, especially Sonya Yoncheva as an extraordinary Iolanta. She portrays the blind princess convincingly and shapes the demanding role simply stunningly.”
Michael Wruss, Oberösterreichische Nachrichten

“Sonya Yoncheva is fantastic in the title role, using her round, dark soprano to perfection: delicate creaminess, full tone, and a radiant forte.”
Martin Gasser, Kleine Zeitung

“With Sonya Yoncheva and her large soprano voice, the blind princess is brilliantly and attractively cast. No wonder Vaudémont, bursting in with his friend Robert, falls head over heels at the sight of the sleeping maiden.”
Ernst P. Strobl, Salzburger Nachrichten

“Sonya Yoncheva acts Iolanta with deep commitment and delights vocally as well – with a beautifully colored soprano, good top notes, delicate lyrical passages, and power in the dramatic passages of the role…”
Gert Korentschnig, Kurier

“Sonya Yoncheva fills the stage and the entire role with her mature, flexible, expressive soprano, still lyrically rooted, in which the slightest edge and rare instable notes dissolve into the finely shaped whole: a diva in the role of the overprotected princess. She sees her father René, solidly sung by Ivo Stanchev, more gentle than forceful, and all her friends and confidantes. But most of all, she sees Prince Vaudémont, who first made her aware of her blindness, and with whom she is now united in love and sight.”
Walter Weidringer, Die Presse

“Iolanta, powerfully voiced and radiantly cast with Sonya Yoncheva, is not very girlish and lives with her companions on a green hill that evokes less of Wagner and more of Madonna in a rose garden. Like a tableau vivant, Yoncheva is flanked by a group of Yonchevas, as her handmaidens appear to be clones of their mistress, setting the tone for the evening right from the start.”
APA (Austrian Press Agency)

Sonya Yoncheva reveals radiant top notes…”
Dr. Karl-Heinz Roschitz, Kronen-Zeitung

“In star soprano Sonya Yoncheva and conductor Tugan Sokhiev, Titov has key collaborators who clearly believe passionately in Tchaikovsky’s opera and he presents a beautiful production that plays it more or less by the book…
(…)
On opening night, Titov’s staging received heroic performances from all concerned, led by Yoncheva who absolutely sang her heart out as Iolanta. Her soprano now has gloriously rich depths – think Anna Netrebko about ten years ago (a compliment) – and she spun the lines of her opening arioso like silk. Her top was thrilling, matched in duet by tenor Dmytro Popov, and her acting was utterly believable.”
Mark Pullinger, Opera Now

“Sonya Yoncheva was an excellent Iolanta. Her warmly colored soprano with secure top notes suited the role perfectly.”
Johannes Marksteiner, Online Merker

“A fairytale princess couldn’t be more beautiful than Sonya Yoncheva with her long black hair (by the way, her ladies look like her for most of the time), at first in a nude bodysuit in the water, then wrapped in a beautiful dress. She sings wonderful cantilenas, effortlessly soars to high notes (…) and joins her tenor in a truly passionate, rapturously acclaimed love duet.”
Renate Wagner, Online Merker

[Photo: Michael Pöhn / Wiener Staatsoper]