In conversation with Sonya Yoncheva: " If I ever lose my inspiration for creating, it will be my death!"

10. Februar 2025

Rubrik Interviews

©Victor Santiago

Sonya Yoncheva certainly does not have to fear losing her inspiration, as the superstar of opera displays multi-facetted talents in many artistic fields. Just recently the Bulgarin soprano released a very personal album with artsongs, closely linked to the French feminist George Sand, whom she has been admiring for her free-spirited nature ever since her early childhood years. It is thus the fascination of strong women, that drives Sonya Yoncheva to thorougly capture each and every of her opera characters in an utmost true and authentic way. Above all the key to her groundbreaking success on the big opera stages is her natural, most personal approach to saturate her voice with intense emotions, which also makes her interpretations of artsong a one-of-a-kind experience. On the spot one gets inspired when talking to the charismatic and warm-hearted personality, who very well knows how to attract audiences to make them discover the magic of opera.

Operaversum: Dear Sonya, you have been interpreting the most fascinating female characters in opera. Is there a dream role which you love performing best and why? 

Sonya Yoncheva: Well, I have always been fascinated by the power of virtues, women are capable to cultivate, which makes us so polyvalent and multifaceted in doing many things at the same time, such as being an amazing mother, being a fantastic housewife and ultimately being a sensual lover, not to forget that on top we can establish a career in a lot of professional fields. 

Thus said, all these virtues are important if it comes to the nature of the characters I am performing on stage, as for instance Medea, who is a psychologically interesting character I am very much drawn to. 

Interesting enough, people tend to misjudge Medea as a criminal. But when you look under her surface she reveals a loving personality, whose life got so shattered that she eventually was forced to commit cruel things. Things she would most certainly never have done with the right partner by her side. 

Or let us have a look at Tosca, who in my opinion is neither a naive nor a stupid woman, but a talented, young diva who loves Cavaradossi so much. For me those personal attributes each and ever female character carries underneath her surface, is what I cherish a lot in a role.   

Operaversum: Which leads me straight to my next question! Singing the most dramatic roles and repertoire, which demand a lot of “soul-factor” and expressive acting how do you always find the perfect balance between vocal techique and emotional depth when interpreting a role? 

And is there a danger to sometimes misbalance the two?   

Sonya Yoncheva: Absolutely, since I am not only an artist, but also a human being with emotions, which on stage are getting even more intense - something I consider as normal. As a matter of fact it took me some years to understand how to find a good balance between vocal technique and emotional depth. 

So even after 50 performances of interpreting Mimi in La Bohème, at times my tears would still be so strong during the dying scene, that I could not even sing my last words. 

Of course those moments are absolutely exceptional, but also extremely fulfilling as at the end of a show you come back home charged with emotions which ideally did transport into the audience. And whenever that happens, I call it a priceless gift. 

Operaversum: It totally is a priceless gift also for the audience, especially when a singer has the courage to overstep the line to transport true emotions and thus dares to break with the technique at one point! I think that is extremely brave to do so!

Sonya Yoncheva: You know Nicole. Vocal technique is a lifetime topic for a singer, even more so since everybody in my field is talking about applying the right technique. Luckily as a young student I had the chance to come across two amazing teachers, who would both tell me that if I have the right emotion while singing, the technique will adjust perfectly and vice versa. 

So if you do not feel what you sing and you only use your vocal technique, it does not mean anything and the audience eventually will not understand your interpretation. 

No matter whether this advise is an old or new school approach, I have to say that it helped me succeed in my career, especially since I have to sometimes accept that I cannot be perfect, but very much convincing as in interpreting the music. That is a gamechanger, particularly when it comes to the question of mastering my busy working schedule. 

©Victor Santiago

Operaversum: Valueing emotional authenticity over technical perfection to my understanding even enriches the quality of opera singing. So I find your teachers approach rather inspiring and up-to-date! 

But let us talk now about  your new album already released 24th January, which I found so extraordinary and unique as you seem to tell a whole story through the combination of music and words? 

So what thrilled you most about having this album produced?   

Sonya Yoncheva: Thank you so much. You hit the point, as it absolutely was my intention to tell a story on this album, if not to portray George Sand whom I have been admiring ever since I was a very young child playing the piano and loving Chopin´s music, which was, as my mother used to tell me, influenced by this extraordinary woman. 

You know, George Sand was one of the first women to break the rules of society, simply because of her not being able to fit in. And I really adored her courage to find and persue her own path of freedom, which today is rather a done thing for us in almost every respect. 

But when you come across such a personality who lived 150 years ago, it appears to be even more impressive to know that a single woman could break free of all the man-made rules in those still restrictive times.

And that fueled my fascination for George Sand, which started to grow at the age of 29, when I realised that her close circle of friends, and lovers were all big names such as Frédéric Chopin or Alfred de Musset. 

On top George Sand was not only a mother, a well-respected author and influencer of her time, but also bi-sexual, not paying attention to what anybody else would think of her. 

But what eventually tipped the scales for me having the album produced was that George Sand, who was not even a musican,  loved music so much and considered it to be utmost important for humankind, society and ultimately for the industry. 

Music was the most perfect language for her. And that strongly  resonated with my own values. So I decided to tell her story through her most intimate musical friends such as Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt and Pauline Viardot by intertwining their musical works with small fragments of her own texts. Et voilà that is how the project for creating this album was born. 

Operaversum: A beautiful hommage to George Sand indeed. Morever a wonderful compilation of art songs, which makes me wonder  what fascinates you so much about Lied? 

Sonya Yoncheva: You mean with respect to this album or in general? 

©Victor Santiago

Operaversum: In general, I mean! 

Sonya Yoncheva: Well what thrills me most about Lied or art song is that you do not need to apply your big operatic voice.

So the good thing about Lied is that you can basically start-off practising some repertoire that can first and foremost help you discover your own voice on your own terms, especially when it resonates in it´s absolue intimate vibration. That is when the voice is not challenged or forced at all, which I personally love very much. 

Moreover the melodies of a song are so intimate and mostly composed on the text rather than the other way round, that one as an artist can play with a lot of vocal colours, which is trying to sing as soft as possible or even playing with dynamics in a way that would not work in opera. 

Other than in Lied, with opera you have the famous arias, a lot of people do know by heart, which makes it really easy to be compared to fellow opera singers. 

So eventually the good thing about Lied is that you can much better have your own personality engraved in it and be also ecclectic in other genres, like for example Jazz or Pop Music, which I also like to perform. 

Operaversum: I remember having listened to you on Instagram performing a modern song, which sounded different, but totally beautiful!  

Sonya Yoncheva: Well, modern songs are part of my personality and my background as well, since I grew up with that kind of Lied repertoire. For example my mother would listen to all kind of songs, whereas my father very much loved the folk music of Bulgaria, which he also actively sang. 

So growping up in that world, never felt strange. I rather think it is beautiful to challenge yourself in different musical styles, finding different ways to get audiences closer to art and music.

In my career, no matter, what genre I am performing in, I do believe I can build bridges rather than distances. 

Thus said, I believe that with each project I am on, I can make people aware of the importance of music. I would even go that far as to say that music has a very healing power, something which is even more important today, as we live in a very superficial world. 

Operaversum: I even think that when listening to you performing Lied, it has a very rich artistic substance as in getting to know you better as the personality you are?  

Sonya Yoncheva: Oh, yes. Absolutely! In Bulgaria I created a small series about the human voice presented in a recital, as I believe no matter whether you are the artist on stage or the listener sitting in the audience, there are no masks, no costumes and eventually no concept like in opera. 

In a recital it is just you, the music and your voice. And that combination is absolutely powerful because you can show your real nature to the outside world, such that your audience gets to know you better as an artist, which is exceptional. 

Operaversum: Very true. That is why I love Lied so much. But change in topic now. Since you have a very busy working schedule, being very much in demand, how essential is it for you to be present in the world of social media and will the future of classical music need opera singers to be even more visible off-stage to be able reach out to a broader audience?  

Sonya Yoncheva: I guess, we as opera singers need to go with the flow. Of course we can be rebelious and refrain from social media, which at one point I wanted to do, realising that it can be manipulative in a very negative way.   

But then I remember having had a discussion with Maestro Daniel Barenboim, who said that social media is an incredible tool, but that it is important how to use it in an appropriate and right way.

So looking back on the past 15 years, in which many of us have been spending time just using social media as amusement apps, the next step would be to filter only relevant information and use it with meaning. I really hope we will develop in that direction, as I believe in the good of humanity. 

Nevertheless I reckon that as much as concerns the arts, social media can be an incredible promotional tool, even though the live performance in an opera house or a concert hall can never be replaced by a Reel or a Story on Instagram. 

Operaversum: Definitely not!  

Sonya Yoncheva: You know, we actually could observe it during the Covid crisis, couldn´t we? We saw many people posting Stories or Reels, me included. But it was not the same experience at all like when you would go into an opera house? 

©Victor Santiago

Operaversum: No, social media  is just useful for audiences in order to get a glimpse into the operatic world and for operas singers to promote their art and spread it among a broader audience. 

But attending a live performance in an opera house, feeling the resonance, watching the artists on stage, listening to their unique voices is simply pure magic! That cannot be replaced by social media! 

Sonya Yoncheva: And I very much hope it will never be replaced. You know, a lot of fans who are leaving comments on my Instagram account tend to ask me, why I would not perform on the social media platforms, whereas I then would reply that everybody can easily listen to me in one of the best theatres in the world, which is so much more exciting. 

Operaversum: Well, it absolutely is, which makes me curious now what would have been your most touching stage experience so far?   

Sonya Yoncheva: To be honest I had many touching stage experiences, because I am a person who is getting emotional on stage right away before pragmatism and logic take hold of me. So most of the times when I am out on stage it happens that I first and foremost get emotional. 

And I clearly remember one moment on stage, where I performed Madame Butterfly. It was during the final scene when I had to leave my child aside to commit suicide. 

And since I am a mother and know what it feels to be with a child, the final act of the opera occured to me as somewhat impossible to perform. Many times I thought to myself that I would never be able to finish this opera due to the emotional impact it caused me. 

So for me it meant hard work and required so much concentration, body and mind control in oder to overcome the impulse to react overemotional. 

I mean the Finale of this particular opera is the shortest part of the piece in its entirety, compared to the rest of it, but also the most intense and powerful part. Plus all that intensified by my own son, who during one of the performances sat in the audience and for the first time cried out so loud, that I could even hear him from above the stage, cost me to control my body and not die on stage for real. 

Operaversum: It is hard to imagine what feelings might be bottling up from inside!  

Dear Sonya, I was also wondering whether you had still future aspirations in your career in terms of opera projects which you are looking forward to? 

Sonya Yoncheva: Definitely! Having future aspirations is for sure something I cherish a lot in my life because I honestly believe that if I ever loose my inspiration for creating, it will be my death. 

Then I would rather quit my profession than continuing with one and the same repertory on end. I am always starving to discover new things and projects, like with George. If something burns within me and I know that when the time has come to realise a project, I am always happy to put it into action and make it come true. 

That is a great satisfaction for me, as much as I am satisfied by being a producer and editor of a magazine in my homeland Bulgaria. Being creative and versatile makes my life and career a colourful creative "perpetual mobile". And as long as I can be creative, I will be creative. 

Operaversum: So Sonya Yoncheva is not only an opera singer, but a multifaceted artist!  

Sonya Yoncheva: Actually with only a few words, you described it very well!  

Operaversum: Then perhaps you can now describe fo me in just a few words: What makes classical music so fascinating and opera such a magic place to be and how could more music lovers be drawn to that wonderful genre?  

Sonya Yoncheva: Well, opera is the most complete artfrom, which roughly needs 250 people to work on- and offstage, interdepending on disciplines such as dance, song, composing, instruments, staging, theatre and costume design. That makes opera a showbusiness with a lot of different artistic facettes to it, as many creative fields come together  in order to create something together. And that is what really fascinates me about opera! 

Operaversum: And what do you reckon how one could draw more music lovers into that artform?  

Sonya Yonechava: You mean how to get audiences into an opera house?  

Operaversum: Absolutely!  

Sonya Yoncheva: Wow. I think that is the question! Well, as our society in our world of today is constantly changing, which is absolutely beautiful, we need to find a "language" that appeals to attract young people to the artform. 

But most importantly we also need music to be part of the education system everywhere around the world, which is not necessarily to create new stars in the opera business, but to create the audiences of tomorrow. 

Thus a cultural foundation is essential from where we as opera singers can reach out to new audiences in a way that appeals to attract the new generation of opera goers and helps them overcome their inhibitions towards opera and classical music. 

Operaversum: That sounds absolutely convincing. Dear Sonya, thank you so much for this inspiring conversation that gave me a lot of valuable insight into your art. Wishing you toi, toi, toi for your forthcoming performance of Tosca in Vienna. 

©Victor Santiago

Following a series of spectacular debuts at the world's leading opera houses, soprano Sonya Yoncheva has been heralded as one of the most acclaimed and exciting performers of her generation. She has become an acclaimed fixture on the most important stages of the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Bayerische Staatsoper, Berlin State Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, and the Opéra de Paris.

Her unforgettable portrayals of iconic roles have received tremendous acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Of her performances in La traviata at the Staatsoper Berlin, Die Welt proclaimed: "She is the finest Violetta since Maria Callas. The Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva is possibly the best Traviata in the world at present.”

Sonya Yoncheva’s extensive repertoire includes jewels of the Baroque canon, as well as works by Mozart, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, and Puccini. Celebrated for her distinctly beautiful voice and exceptional dramatic presence, Sonya is equally at home on the concert and recital stage, having performed to critical acclaim in several cities including Paris, Dresden, Baden-Baden, and Prague.

During the 2016/17 season, Ms. Yoncheva debuted in the title role of Bellini’s Norma and sang Antonia in Les Contes d'Hoffmann at Royal Opera House, Tatiana in Eugene Onegin at Deutsche Oper Berlin, and is Mimí at the Teatro alla Scala. Ms. Yoncheva also returned to The Metropolitan Opera as Violetta in La traviata, and is a featured artist at the Met’s Gala Concert celebrating its 50th Anniversary at Lincoln Center. Sonya sings the role of Vitellia in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, is featured in concert in her home country of Bulgaria, sings a recital for the Turku Music Festival, and embarks on a concert tour featuring Baroque repertoire with Academia Montis Regalis which is highlighted on a Sony Classical album release.

Ms. Yoncheva begins the 2017/18 season in Paris making her debut as Élisabeth de Valois in a new production of Verdi's Don Carlos, followed by performances in one of her signature roles, Mimì, in a new staging of Puccini's La Bohème, all for the Opéra de Paris. She then travels to New York's Metropolitan Opera to sing Countess Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Mimì in La Bohème, and she will debut in the title role of Verdi's Luisa Miller in the first Met performances of the opera in more than ten years.

Following this string of starry engagements, Sonya Yoncheva makes her greatly anticipated debut in the title role of Puccini's Tosca in concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra, led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Sonya presents recitals for the Opernhaus Zürich and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Paris, and sings in concert at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on an all-Verdi programme, in addition to being the soloist at the Bayerische Staatsoper's annual outdoor summer Festival Concert. She has been named the 2017 medici.tv Artist of the Year, and will be featured on a series of live online and archived broadcasts in celebration of this recognition.

In addition to her star turn as Violetta, Ms. Yoncheva’s 2015/16 season included celebrated performances as Desdemona in The Metropolitan Opera’s season opening production of Otello; Micaëla (Carmen) at the Royal Opera House; Mimì (La bohème) at the Staatsoper Berlin; and the title role in Iolanta at Opéra de Paris, where she established herself as the “great reigning” interpreter of the role (Opera-Online). She was also a featured artist at the annual Adventskonzert in Dresden, broadcast on ZDF in Europe.

Other past performance highlights include several Metropolitan Opera appearances, featuring her debut as Gilda in Rigoletto and star turns as Mimì in La bohème, Violetta in La traviata, and Desdemona in Otello; Violetta at the Staatsoper Berlin, the Palau de les Arts Valencia, Monte Carlo, and the Bayerische Staatsoper; Marguerite in Faust at the Vienna Staatsoper, the Royal Opera House, and the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden; Léïla in Les Pêcheurs de perles for the Opéra Comique Paris; and the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor for Opéra de Paris.

Sonya Yoncheva is an alumna of William Christie’s Le Jardin des Voix and has maintained a special focus the Early and Baroque repertory. Past engagements have featured her in several iconic roles, including Phani/Zima (Les Indes galantes) and Dido (Dido and Aeneas) on tour with William Christie in Europe, Russia and the US; La Fortuna (L’incoronazione di Poppea) at the Glyndebourne Festival; Giunone (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria) at the Teatro Real; Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare) in Reims and Versailles; and Poppea (L’incoronazione di Poppea) and Poppea (Agrippina) in Lille and Dijon with conductor.