Press

Sonya Yoncheva just appeared in recital with Malcolm Martineau at the Salle Gaveau of Paris, causing the French press to rave about the concert:

“For several months now, the Bulgarian soprano has graced the stages of the world in heterogeneous recital programs, bringing together operatic arias, melodies and popular songs, and all with disconcerting ease. The ease with which the singer moves from one repertoire to another leaves you speechless, a transversality that few have dared, with the possible exception of Eileen Farrell; she was at home in every field, from Verdi to Wagner, passing by jazz, which she lived like no one else. So here is Sonya Yoncheva again in a transversal program she offered Thursday evening at the Salle Gaveau and this time dedicated to French melody and the “canzone italiana”, where Duparc, Chausson, Delibes, Puccini, Tosti, Martucci, Donizetti, Verdi rub shoulders. Without doubt, the singer wants to demonstrate her versatility and her ability to be at home in all registers.
(…)
With French melodies, the Diva challenges herself by bringing together melodies bristling with difficulties. And not least when it comes to the elusive “Chanson triste” and the thorny “Hai Luli” by Pauline Viardot. But Sonya Yoncheva seems to be able to sing absolutely anything she wishes, although you can feel her here more cautious than in the Italian second half, where she walks with ease. If in Duparc’s “L’invitation au voyage” and “Au pays ou se fait la guerre”, she seems to opt for a cautious posture, “La vie antérieure” and “Chanson triste” seem to suit her much better, and tear off from her poignant accents that permanently capture the listeners. But even more, Viardot’s sensitivity fits her like a glove. Here she can deploy a wide range of expressive resources, which accounts for the singer’s ease in fully embodying her singing in “Hai Luli”. When it comes to Chausson, the soprano plays contrasts wonderfully, and her rich palette of colors is the ideal reflection to express both the melancholy of passing time (“Le temps de lilas”) and the nostalgic colors of the atmospheres with old-fashioned charms (“sérénade italienne”). After a foray into Donizetti, in French, with the rare “Depuis qu’une autre”, it is in “Les Dames de Cadix” by Delibes that the soprano appears most at ease. She undoubtedly pleases herself and pleases the audience, giving free rein to her talents as an actress in a tragicomic register, where she is here between two shores, the French culture of pronouncing very adherently to the melody, and a Latin inspiration, which, after a stop in Spain, already announces the continuation of the program which will bring us on the Italian shores.

The second part of the recital dedicated specifically to the “canzone italiana” is accompanied, as usual by the artist, by a dress change. Playing the perfect contrast to what preceded, wearing a black dress this time, it’s with sparkling eyes and mischievous mood that Sonya Yoncheva arrives in Italy. Rummaging through her scores, pretending to be lost, multiplying glances and kisses, the Diva maintains, beyond singing, warm bonds with the audience. Throughout the songs, a bond is established between the public and the artist and the charm works. In this repertoire, she is in her territory and she moves there with ease. The “canzone” suits her fiery temperament as desired, and emotion is at its peak in the works of Puccini, Martucci and Tosti highlighting atmospheres with love (“Sole e amore”) as a common point but also incandescence (“Canto d’anime”), the lasciviousness itself (“ultimo bacio”) where the actress, the tragedienne, points under the peerless recitalist. This repertoire highlights her low register, in an infinite melancholy of which she tastefully varies the colors.

In Verdi, her voice manages to create the chiaroscuro that one expects in these pieces and she manages to vary the colors. We feel a thrill of the Trovatore Leonora in the ascending phrase of “In solitaria stanza” and the shadow of Violetta in her interpretation of “Ad una stella”. Sonya Yoncheva gives these scores a sort of Viscontian atmosphere, a timeless time, lit by the reflections with a thousand flashes of a rich timbre that is both dark and sparkling. Against the backdrop of a voice of great breadth and beauty, the low notes are full and just as impressive as some super-powerful high notes. Her interpretation permanently affects the listener.

Accompanied by a virtuoso Malcom Martineau on the piano, who also frees himself over the evening, the Diva intoxicates the audience with amorous atmospheres by offering us in the encores the Addio of a suffering Mimi or the Habanera of an incandescent Carmen. She gives us a final goodbye with Manon’s “Adieu Notre petite table”. And we suddenly want all these tableaux vivants to follow one another ad infinitum in a time that would not stop, thus renewing the pleasure of the evening with an artist who was if not divine, at least sublime.”
Brigitte Maroillat, Forum Opéra

“The Salle Gaveau is the scene of a pleasant recital in which Sonya Yoncheva shines, accompanied on the piano by Malcolm Martineau.

The Bulgarian soprano is the star, this evening like many others, with a pleasant program for the occasion, between France and Italy, between Duparc and Chausson, Verdi and Puccini. No operatic arias however (except during the encores) but a set of melodies which allow Sonya Yoncheva to deploy her rich timbre and her large voice, (…) The audience is there (a spectator even exclaims “Vi obicham, Sonya!”, I love you in Bulgarian, from her seat).

The first part of the recital is dedicated to French composers, albeit with a Donizetti, but again in a French aria, “Depuis qu’une autre”. The audience also appreciates the presence of Pauline Viardot in the program, with “Hai Luli” rendered with a beautiful intensity and a sweet intimacy born from the delicacy with which the soprano penetrates each note. The voice is luminous, without being ostentatious and even reveals a modesty of the singer to produce too much sparkle. A modesty which however suits this French repertoire and which allows the singer to offer an interpretation that is both beautiful and balanced, which is however not devoid of emotion: this is how her “Chanson Triste” (Duparc) touches, and especially his Donizetti, which delights the public. (…)

The French melodies conclude with “Les filles de Cadix” (of which she only sings two out of three verses) by Delibes, which lacks gaiety but not a volatile sensuality (the same which will return as an encore with Carmen’s Habanera). “Les filles de Cadix” suddenly ends with a tremendously powerful high note that makes the audience happy, and a first large burst of vibrant applause.

The singer returns after the intermission in a black dress that immediately contrasts with the white one, with veils and ruffles, worn just before. The second part of the recital is devoted to the Italian repertoire and opens with the melodies of Puccini. From the outset, with “Sole e amore”, the soprano displays a livelier emotion, thanks to the ease of the Italian language. There is no lack of soft and silky tenderness, paying homage to the Tuscan composer’s music. (…) … a Tosti (“L’ultimo bacio”) full of charm and a Verdi where the singer finally reveals the omnipotence of her voice and her strength of her vibrato, in particular in “In solitaria stanza” and especially in “L’esule”, which concludes the program, greeted with thunderous applause. (…)

At the piano, Malcolm Martineau is a particularly attentive accompanist to his partner. His playing is imbued with accuracy, sagacity and lends itself with elegance to the program, in particular to French melodies, taken with precision. The connivance with Yoncheva gradually grows as the concert progresses, and ends with the more charming than sensual playing of the soprano walking around him as she performs “Carmen” for encore.

Encores which are the occasion for a return to opera, where the singer first takes up the aria of (…) Puccini’s “La bohème”, which she sings without any difficulty and which overflows with tenderness and sweetness. More assured in “Carmen”, it is however with Massenet and Manon that she concludes this Parisian recital, by promising the public that it is only a goodbye and not a farewell, before just launching in “Adieu notre petite table”, filled with poetry in the voice. She finally concludes with a kiss launched to the audience. The soprano’s only Parisian recital of the year ends, to the warm ovations of the audience.”
Lara Othman, Ôlyrix

“Splendor and majesty of Sonya Yoncheva at the Salle Gaveau”

“The superstar soprano made the Salle Gaveau shiver with a program combining melody, songs and opera arias from the French (Duparc, Chausson, Bizet) and Italian (Puccini, Martucci, Tosti, Verdi) repertoires, accompanied by Malcolm Martineau on the piano.

Sonya Yoncheva presents us with a flowery bouquet of short pieces this evening at Salle Gaveau, alongside pianist Malcolm Martineau. In the program, Duparc, Chausson, Donizetti, Bizet, Puccini, Martucci, Verdi … enough to turn the head of the lyricomaniac in search of sensations in front of their favorite superstar. Rigorously structured in two parts (the first in French, the second in Italian), this bilingual recital is introduced by Duparc and his “Invitation au voyage”. (…)

… the much appreciated phrasing and virtuosity in the control of the voice, with magnificent low notes (…) (“La vie antérieure”) to the diaphanous high register. (…) Moreover, the “Yoncheva effect” works, and the first bravos burst out at the end of the Duparc cycle. The public is already won over!

Without forcing, the performer continues in this momentum with the melody “Hai Luli” by Pauline Viardot and its overpowering ritornello, combining simplicity and expressiveness of the vocal gesture, always with a deep emotional intensity (“S’il doit un jour m’abandonner” with a tight vibrato). A movement found again in Chasson’s “Le Charme”, where the voice slowly spins long volutes on chords in the choral tone of the piano, unlike a powerfully theatrical “Temps des lilas”, where she offers plenty of nuances, passing on a sustained note, from fortissimo to pianissimo in a breathtaking decrescendo. In this land of solemnity, “Filles de Cadiz” would almost come as a surprise. However, the soprano plays the game with folded arms, her voice nonchalant, her face mimicking the gesture of biting.
(…)
The Puccini – Martucci – Tosti – Verdi quartet is thus well served. We will particularly remember the aquatic fluidity of “Terra e mare”, the chesty climax of the triumphant high B of Puccini’s “Canto d’anime”, the controlled voice in Tosti’s “L’ultimo bacio”, or the subtle poetry of Verdi’s “Solitaria stanza”.

And finally, it is when the final three encores come that Sonya Yoncheva, freed from her music stand, seems to be able to fully devote herself to the operatic gesture with Mimì’s “Donde Lieta usci” to give the shivers, the opera hit “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” by Bizet in a sulphurous game of seduction with the pianist, before returning to the first solemnity with “Adieu notre petite table from Massenet’s “Manon”.”
Nicolas Mathieu, Prèmiere Loge