**** The Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva is currently one of the best singers for Verdi operas. With The Verdi Album, her latest cd on Sony Classical, she provides beautiful proof of this, together with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester under the direction of the sensitive conductor Massimo Zanetti.
The repertoire is carefully curated: some early, less popular operas such as Attila and Stiffelio alongside top arias such as Tacea la notte from Il Trovatore, Pace, pace from La Forza del destino and certainly Ave Maria, the sublime aria of Desdemona from Otello. She performs each piece with great intensity, embodying the typical female characters of Verdi's operas: hapless victims despite their strong characters and their inner and sincere struggle for their authentic identity. Sonya Yoncheva embodies them in an ideal way. Her voice is alert and commands attentive listening. She is metallic without being harsh, and expresses the strength of the women. Perhaps she sometimes gives a bit too much attention to strength: occasionally she could also be a bit more fragile and express the tragedy with softer nuances. But she has absolutely no difficulty with high notes and sings with a wonderful legato!
She is accompanied by Massimo Zanetti, the conductor whom we still vividly remember from his period as chief conductor at Vlaamse Opera during the time Marc Clémeur was intendant there. Since then we have heard him in Belgium a few more times with great satisfaction as conductor at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie (2014, Verdi, Luisa Miller; 2017, Bellini, Norma). A conductor with a perfect feeling for Verdi. He proves himself here once again as the supreme lyricist. He indeed conjures softness and melancholy from the Münchner Rundfunkorchester and his precise rhythm also determines the tension he puts into the arias, sometimes also through the right pause and stillness, for example in the aria from Il Trovatore. He is a master of the "silenzio". Just listen to the end of Desdemona's aria, or to the mysterious sound of the sea and the moon in the wonderful aria Come in quest'ora bruna from Simon Boccanegra.
A cd that the Verdi enthusiast can certainly enjoy, both for the level of the performers and for the presented excerpts. The opera lover can already note a live concert with Yoncheva in his calendar: the Bulgarian soprano will come on 18 June 2019 for a Verdi concert to the Opéra Royal de Wallonie.
- WHAT: The Verdi Album
- WHO: Sonya Yoncheva (soprano), Münchner Rundfunkorchester cond. Massimo Zanetti
- RELEASE: Sony Classical 88985417982