It has been more than two years since Sonya Yoncheva last appeared at the Met—a comparatively long absence for one of the company’s most prolific recent stars—and the captivating Bulgarian soprano can’t wait to return. “I love the Met! I love this stage and this audience,” she says. “That’s probably why I have debuted so many new roles here.” A natural risk taker, Yoncheva has made a habit of tackling touchstone roles—including the title characters of Puccini’s Tosca, Verdi’s Luisa Miller, and Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello—for the first time on opera’s grandest stage. Her streak continues this spring, when she unveils her take on Lisa, the long-suffering heroine of Tchaikovsky’s Pushkin-inspired The Queen of Spades (through June 7).
The performances mark Yoncheva’s second Tchaikovsky role at the Met, following her 2019 appearance in the title role of Iolanta. Of her portrayal of the lovestruck blind princess, The New York Times praised her singing as “clear and focused, yet with a vibration of youthful feeling at its core. It manages to be both bright and gentle, with a penetrating, fearless upper register.” “Fearless” could also describe Yoncheva’s general approach to performing, as she throws herself fully into the hearts and minds of the characters she portrays. “My first consideration when deciding whether I will sing a new role is the psychological aspect. Am I able to go into the character’s skin?” she explains. “Of course, I have to be prepared musically, but what is most important is connecting my vocal abilities to the actress I am.'
Lisa promises to be the perfect vehicle for Yoncheva. Initially caught in an unhappy engagement, she abandons her fiancé in favor of the officer Hermann. But his fatal gambling obsession drives them both to despair and ruin. It is an emotional and dramatic journey Yoncheva is excited to undertake, and after headlining some of the repertoire’s most popular warhorses, she is eager to share this lesser-known gem with Met audiences. “As ambassadors of art and classical music, we have a responsibility to present these masterpieces that are not as often performed,” she says.
Yoncheva will share the stage with tenor Brian Jagde, who appears as Hermann for the first time, and baritone Igor Golovatenko, who returns as the jilted Prince Yeletsky. Maestro Keri-Lynn Wilson takes the podium to oversee Tchaikovsky’s chilling tragedy following her celebrated company debut at the helm of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk in 2022.
