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)
. . . [from the first chords of the "Figaro" overture, Nézet-Séguin]
establishes a bold, fully crystallized concept of Mozartean sonority and
the psychological implications behind it . . . [Christiane Karg as the
wily servant Susanna and Sonya Yoncheva as the Countess] are just
wonderful . . . [Luca Pisaroni's Figaro] makes dramatic points not with
his usual word articulation but with more microphone-friendly use of
tone Color . . . Even small roles are cast with stars: Anne Sofie von
Otter as Marcellina and Rolando Villazón as Basilio help sustain Act 4 .
. . [the 50-plus "Figaro" recordings on CD and DVD] show how the opera
showcases each generation of Mozart performers . . . Nézet-Séguin's
recording takes its place among these touchstones. A great musical
mediator . . .
