Sonya Yoncheva / Münchner Rundfunkorchester / Massimo Zanetti THE VERDI ALBUM

Sony has announced Sonya Yoncheva’s third CD “The Verdi album.”

The new album sees Yoncheva explore the composer’s music through arias from “Nabucco,” “Attila,” “Luisa Miller” and “Stiffelio.” There are also arias from “Il Trovatore,” “Otello,” “Simon Boccanegra,” and “Don Carlo.”

Every selection on the album was selected by Yoncheva with the soprano noting that her favorite aria on the album was from “Attila.” She also noted that Abigaille’s aria, which is known as a voice-wrecker was a challenge. “I never obey the rules. People tell me I should sing this, or not sing that, but I believe you have to listen to your voice. And I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to go into this dark and dramatic world, and see what came out!”

Of the arias performed on the album, Yoncheva has performed “Otello” and “Don Carlo” on stage. The soprano will take on the role of  “Luisa Miller” at the Metropolitan Opera with Plácido Domingo and Piotr Beczala this spring and will be showcased live in HD.

Sonya Yoncheva recorded her new album with Verdi specialist Massimo Zanetti and the Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra. (Francisco Salazar)

For her third solo album for Sony Classical, the Operalia-winning soprano, Yoncheva turns her attention to the work of a composer for whom many feel she has always had a special affinity: Giuseppe Verdi. The music of Verdi forms the lodestone of most dramatic-lyric sopranos, and Yoncheva includes arias from some of the composer’s rarely-performed operas in addition to some of the most beloved ones. From the early operas, she sings arias from Nabucco (1842), Attila (1846), Luisa Miller (1849) and Stiffelio (1850). The latter aria is a prayer of forgiveness from a woman, the wife of a pastor, who has been unfaithful. ‘The emotional range of this aria is amazing, and musically it uses the whole voice from high to low- but amazingly it all happens in about two minutes.’ (Sony Classical)