Sonya Yoncheva on track to set a new world opera record

On 24 November, Sonya Yoncheva once again made a dazzling debut on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She had previously performed the role of Maddalena in Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chénier at La Scala in Milan in 2023, and at the Vienna State Opera in April 2025. In New York, her partner was the celebrated Polish tenor Piotr Beczała, who took on the role of the poet André Chénier for the first time in his career. Yoncheva and Beczała had also sung together at the prestigious American venue in 2023 in another popular Giordano opera, Fedora.

Andrea Chénier at the Met is a revival of the renowned 1996 production created for Luciano Pavarotti and Maria Guleghina, marking the centenary of the opera’s composition. On the eve of the 130th anniversary of Giordano’s work, the three soloists—Sonya Yoncheva (Maddalena), Piotr Beczała (Chénier), and Igor Golovatenko (Gérard)—made their debut in these roles at the Met under the baton of Daniele Rustioni. Five more performances are scheduled for 28 November and 3, 6, 9, and 13 December, with the final performance to be broadcast live in select cinemas worldwide.

Maddalena is the twelfth role in Yoncheva’s repertoire at the Metropolitan Opera, making her the Bulgarian opera singer with the most roles at the prestigious New York theatre. In a few months, she is set to take on her thirteenth role: Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly.

The Bulgarian prima donna is also approaching another milestone. In February 2026, the world premiere of Umberto Giordano’s opera Marina is scheduled in Milan. This will be the first staged performance of the work by the master of Italian verismo, which has never been publicly performed and was long thought lost.

A few years ago, Yoncheva participated in the revival of another little-known Giordano opera, Siberia. Of the composer’s eleven operas, Andrea Chénier and Fedora remain the most frequently performed worldwide. Many leading sopranos consider it an honour to sing Maddalena, but only a few have performed Fedora, and almost none have portrayed Stephana in Siberia. Until now, no one has performed Marina.

This places Sonya Yoncheva in a unique position: she will be the first opera singer in the world to perform Marina and the first to have portrayed four of Giordano’s heroines on stage.

For Yoncheva, reviving operatic treasures from the past is a special mission. As a performer, producer, and curator, she builds bridges between eras and participates in historic premieres. For the first staged performance of Marina in Milan, she will be joined by tenor , winner of this year’s Operalia competition held in Sofia.

Both initiatives were held in the Bulgarian capital at Yoncheva’s invitation, reflecting her ongoing mission to connect local audiences with the world’s leading contemporary opera singers and to broaden opera lovers’ appreciation of the repertoire’s diversity and the beauty of the human voice.

Editor: Elena Karkalanova

Posted in English by E. Radkova