Your guide to classical music online

First-Rate Soprano, Third-Rate Performances

Robert Levine

Artistic Quality:

Sound Quality:

Having just come off back-to-back, live performances of Tosca and La bohème at the Met starring Sonya Yoncheva, I quickly gobbled up this newly released, recorded-last-April CD of Verdi arias. Yoncheva’s voice is a stunner–bright but throbbing with vibrato, with an appealing darkness in the lower range that is occasionally Callas-tinged, and solid up to a shining high-C. On stage her performance seemed effortless, and her phrasing was natural and intelligent, with small and not-so-small telling dramatic moments. She radiates personality and an inherent musicality. Her Desdemona at the Met a few years ago was the best thing about the performance.

This CD is a disappointment. The voice, yes, is gorgeous–creamy, with many colors, especially in the middle octave. The legato remains natural and pure, her innate sense of where the musical line is going is a joy to experience. But you sense danger from the opening aria, Leonora’s “Tacea la notte”. The vibrato has widened, but you ignore that until the cadenza, which is simply strident. The cabaletta–both verses–would be considered fine in a live performance, but with repeated hearings pitch issues creep in and the overall effect is uncomfortable.

“Tu puniscimi…” from Luisa Miller is next, and it begins gloriously, with a forceful plea, but soon turns generic. She has a tendency to pause before cadenzas, breaking the line, and she does so here (as in the Trovatore). Odabella’s “Liberamente or piangi” opens with fine reflection, but as the vocal line climbs true discomfort comes with it. Lina’s plaint from Stiffelio stops every phrase or two for a dramatic pause and you almost forget there’s an aria going on here.

“Pace! Pace” begins gloriously but Yoncheva opts out of anything below mezzo-forte and the aria starts to grate; the attempt at pianissimo at “Invan la pace” wobbles. The final “Maledizione” is simply not fierce enough compared to what came before. Desdemona’s “Ave Maria”, sans Willow Song, is wonderful, even if the final note is not as ethereal as we might want and just misses being flat. Amelia’s “Come in quest’ora bruna” is similarly lovely and evocative, but the final B-flat flaps in the wind. “Tu che la vanita” is masterly, very much in the Callas mold, with mood and tone changes for the introspective passages. The beat on the first syllable of “Fraaaancia” is forgivable in context, and she keeps up a level of intensity and involvement that would have made the rest of the CD masterly. The reprise of the opening lines is the work of a great soprano.

It’s a perfect place to end the recital, but sadly Yoncheva has opted to include Abigaille’s “Anch’io dischiuso”. Thankfully she omits the recit, which might have killed her, although it mars the whole experience of the scene: should anything by Abigaille start with a gentle flute solo? That having been said, the aria itself is superbly shaded, and it’s only at the cabaletta, one verse only (whew!), that she comes to grief, with her dropping out until the final high-C, which is pretty awful. Sopranos who specialized in Handel five years ago should probably keep away from this aria, no?

I wonder if the many awkward pauses throughout are the decision of conductor Massimo Zanetti, since they take away the overall arc and flow of several arias. I wonder why there are no interstitial choruses or comprimarios to make some of the arias feel complete. I wonder why this whole thing seems somehow thrown together and in no particular order. I wonder if Yoncheva was, simply, not familiar with these arias but had a few days off in April of 2017 and Sony swooped in. She’s a great singer and this is not a great recital.

« Back to Search Results


Recording Details:

Album Title: Sonya Yoncheva--The Verdi Album
  • VERDI, GIUSEPPE:
    Arias from Il trovatore, Luisa Miller, Attila, Stiffelio, La forza del destino, Otello, Simon Boccanegra, Don Carlo, & Nabucco

    Soloists: Sonya Yoncheva (soprano)

    Munich Radio Orchestra, Massimo Zanetti

Search Music Reviews

Search Sponsor

  • Insider Reviews only
  • Click here for Search Tips

Visit Our Merchandise Store

Visit Store
  • Ideally Cast Met Revival of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette
    Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, NY; March 19, 2024—The Met has revived Bartlett Sher’s 1967 production of Gounod’s R&J hot on the heels of its
  • An Ozawa Story, November, 1969
    Much has justifiably been written regarding Seiji Ozawa’s extraordinary abilities and achievements as a conductor, and similarly about his generosity, graciousness, and sense of humor
  • Arvo Pärt’s Passio At St. John The Divine
    Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York, NY; January 26, 2024—When one thinks of musical settings of Christ’s Passion, one normally thinks of the