NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Sonya Yoncheva, a worries about classical music.
鈥淢y son, if I ask him, he always says, 鈥業 want to be like Ronaldo.鈥� And later, if I ask my girl, she will say, 'I want to be Lady Gaga and Beyonce虂,鈥欌�� the Bulgarian singer explained ahead of Saturday鈥檚 new production premiere of Giordano鈥檚 鈥淔edora鈥� at the Metropolitan Opera. 鈥淭hey really don鈥檛 associate with the classical music artists. Times are changing.鈥�
In a bid to shape projects and bolster opera鈥檚 audience, Yoncheva is launching her own record label.
A Sony Classical artist since 2013, Yoncheva is releasing 鈥淭he Courtesan鈥� on her own SY11 Productions label, recorded with conductor Marco Armiliato, tenor Charles Castronovo and Italy鈥檚 Orchestra dell鈥橭pera Carlo Felice Genova. It will launch on Amazon on Feb. 9.
In a time of dwindling classical sales and releases, she was able to choose the selections and even the cover photo, matters subject to a collaboration on Sony recordings.
鈥淚 never really had the chance to guide my project from first step to the last step,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey were always a very good team with me, but I never felt free.鈥�
In the first close-to-normal season Yoncheva sings a revival of Bellini鈥檚 鈥淣orma鈥� at the Met starting Feb. 28, then has role debuts as Maddalena di Coigny in Giordano鈥檚 鈥淎ndrea Ch茅nier鈥� at Milan鈥檚 Teatro alla Scala on May 3 and Cio-Cio-San in Puccini鈥檚 鈥淢adama Butterfly鈥� at the Vienna State Opera on June 23.
鈥淪he is one of our most important artists,鈥� Met general manager Peter Gelb said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 a wonderful actress and a great singer. She is the kind of the artist that the Met needs more than ever these days as we try to make opera more appealing to a broader audience. It鈥檚 extremely challenging because the core opera audience is much smaller than it once was.鈥�
Born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, on Christmas Day 1981, Yoncheva attended William Christie鈥檚 鈥淛ardin des Voix鈥� in 2007 and moved to Switzerland to enroll at the Conservatoire de Musique de Gen猫ve.
鈥淚 wanted to come to the States, but I never managed to have a scholarship,鈥� she said. 鈥淎t the time, a salary of a normal Bulgarian person was $60 per month, so when you compare this to what has to be paid in a university in the States, it鈥檚 just insanely expensive, so for this reason I had to chose Europe. Someone gave me a little envelope with the name of the high school in Geneva, and this person told me 鈥榊ou should go there,鈥� and I said OK.鈥�
In 2010, she became the first woman to win Pl谩cido Domingo鈥檚 Operalia competition, and she went on to debuts at the Met and Royal Opera (2013), Vienna State Opera (2014), Milan鈥檚 Teatro alla Scala and Paris (2017).
Yoncheva starred in Claus Guth鈥檚 2017 Paris production of Puccini鈥檚 鈥淟a Boh猫me,鈥� infamously relocated to a space shuttle.
鈥淭his was such a nightmare,鈥� she said, laughing, 鈥渂ut many people are still talking about it.鈥�
She has become more discerning with directors.
鈥淢aybe they will have a concept, OK, but I want them to believe in that and to be honest with it and to explain to me why," she said. 鈥淚 must believe in it, and sometimes what is happening is that themselves, they don鈥檛 believe it and then they do it to provoke.鈥�
David McVicar is directing 鈥淔edora鈥� in his 13th Met production 鈥� a future staging of Ponchielli鈥檚 鈥淟a Gioconda鈥� is planned 鈥� in a fairly traditional mounting. Yoncheva made her role debut at La Scala on Oct. 15 in a modern-dress production directed by Mario Martone, and she worried about being heard.
鈥淭he stage director decided to leave the whole stage empty. Me and Roberto Alagna, we were struggling the whole night to find the Punto Callas, Punto Caball茅, Punto Tebaldi, Punto I don鈥檛 know whom,鈥� Yoncheva said, referring to the so-called preferred stage spots of , and decades earlier.
鈥淚 finished the production and I said 'Oh, my God! What am I going to do at the Met?' because the Met is maybe three times bigger than La Scala," Yoncheva said. "I immediately called David, I said, 鈥楶lease tell me there are some walls.鈥� And he said yes. He showed me pictures, and I was reassured.鈥�
Her male lead at the Met is tenor Piotr Beczala. They have worked together for a decade.
鈥淥ur voices our pretty similar,鈥� Beczala said. 鈥淚 am coming from the lyric corner and she鈥檚 coming from the lyric corner, arriving now for a little more spinto repertory.鈥�
While the Met dropped plans to present Yoncheva in John Corigliano鈥檚 鈥淭he Ghosts of Versailles鈥� and 鈥淢adama Butterfly,鈥� she has committed to a new production of Verdi鈥檚 鈥淯n Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball)鈥� and revivals of Tchaikovsky鈥檚 鈥淧ique Dame (The Queen of Spades)鈥� and Cherubini鈥檚 鈥淢edea鈥� in Italian.
She lives outside Geneva with her husband, conductor Domingo Hindoyan, whom she met in school. They are kept busy by 8-year-old son Mateo and 3-year-old daughter Sofia, with the entire family traveling to New York for her extended stay.
Yoncheva鈥檚 daughter looks at her career somewhat differently than the opera audience.
鈥淚 ask her what daddy does and she starts to conduct,鈥� Yoncheva said. 鈥淎nd then I ask her what mommy does, and she says, 鈥極h, mommy, she鈥檚 Elsa from 鈥楩rozen鈥�' 鈥� because I鈥檓 dressed like a princess and I sing.鈥�
Ronald Blum, The Associated Press
