Sonya Yoncheva News

The International Opera Awards are pleased to announce the shortlist for this year's Awards. These were selected by the jury chaired by John Allison, editor of Opera magazine and classical music critic with The Daily Telegraph.

Verdi's late masterpiece based on Shakespeare's tragic drama of jealousy and deceit, OTELLO, airs on THIRTEEN'S Great Performances at the Met today, February 21 at 12 p.m. on PBS. (Check local listings.) (In New York, THIRTEEN will air the opera at 12:30 p.m.) Get a sneak peek below!

The Metropolitan Opera's 2016-17 season, the 50th anniversary of its home at Lincoln Center, will feature 225 opera performances of 26 operas in a varied repertory that ranges from 18th century masterpieces to one of the most acclaimed operas in recent years. Repertoire for the company's 132nd season will include the Met premiere of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho's 2000 opera L'Amour de Loin, as well as new stagings of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Rossini's Guillaume Tell, Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, Dvo?ak's Rusalka, and Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier. A gala concert on May 7, 2017 will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the company's Lincoln Center location with performances by opera's leading stars honoring the Met's past and future. Ticket prices will not increase, remaining the same as in the current season, and audience development programs instituted by the company in recent years will continue.  

Verdi's late masterpiece based on Shakespeare's tragic drama of jealousy and deceit, OTELLO, airs on THIRTEEN'S Great Performances at the Met Sunday, February 21 at 12 p.m. on PBS. (Check local listings.) (In New York, THIRTEEN will air the opera at 12:30 p.m.) Get a sneak peek below!

Sometimes, the Metropolitan Opera seems like an endless Puccini festival. It's particularly apparent this season, when top dogs LA BOHEME, TOSCA and MADAMA BUTTERFLY are joined by TURANDOT and MANON LESCAUT, which are not second drawer, though certainly less popular than the first three. (Let's see how that descriptor applies to the latter when Jonas Kaufmann steps on stage for the new production of LESCAUT.)

Verdi's late masterpiece based on Shakespeare's tragic drama of jealousy and deceit, Otello, airs on THIRTEEN'SGreat Performances at the Met Sunday, February 21 at 12 p.m. on PBS.

No more carping about out-of-tune singing (for the rest of 2015). No more bemoaning opera directors who don't seem to like the art of opera (for the next five minutes). No more worrying whether traditional opera will go the way of all flesh (for the next few days, at least). It's time to give up on my Scrooge tendencies and be thankful for the gifts that opera gave me, in and around New York this past year, alphabetically speaking.

The Ridgefield Playhouse and the AAA Northeast Live in HD Series and bring Verdi's Otello to The Ridgefield Playhouse today, October 23 at 3pm. 

The Peterborough Players' Arts on Screen 2015-2016 Series presents its second Metropolitan Opera Live offering, Giuseppe Verdi's OTELLO, this Saturday, October 17th at 1pm.

The Ridgefield Playhouse and the AAA Northeast Live in HD Series and bring Verdi's Otello to The Ridgefield Playhouse on Saturday, October 23 at 3pm. 

The Live in HD season continues on Saturday, October 17 with Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher's acclaimed new production of Verdi's late masterpiece based on Shakespeare's tragic drama of jealousy and deceit, Otello. Dynamic conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads Aleksandrs Antonenko in his first Met performances of the tormented Moor of Venice, with Sonya Yoncheva in her role debut as his innocent wife, Desdemona. The staging, also featuring Željko Lu?i? as Otello's sinister rival, Iago; Dimitri Pittas as Cassio; and Günther Groissböck as Lodovico, also marks the Met debut of set designer Es Devlin, whose previous designs include the 2014 revival of Machinal on Broadway and numerous opera productions for Covent Garden, La Scala, and other leading companies.

When Verdi and Boito were writing their operatic version of Shakespeare's OTHELLO, they were competing with the already-successful (though less faithful) version written by Rossini and thought about calling their opera IAGO. After seeing Bartlett Sher's new production of the Verdi OTELLO, I wondered whether it might have been renamed DESDEMONA--because soprano Sonya Yoncheva gave the opera's most devastating and gorgeous performance.

The Metropolitan Opera will open its 131st season on Monday, September 21 with a new production of Verdi's Otello. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts his first Met opening night, a staging by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher of the late Verdi masterpiece based on Shakespeare's tragic drama of jealousy and deceit. Aleksandrs Antonenko, who has starred as the doomed Otello around the world to acclaim, makes his Met role debut opposite rising Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva in her first-ever performances of Otello's innocent wife Desdemona. Željko Lu?i? adds a new role to his company repertory as the evil Iago, as do Dimitri Pittas as Iago's pawn Cassio and Günther Groissböck as the Venetian ambassador Lodovico. Sher's staging will feature scenic design by acclaimed designer Es Devlin in her Met debut; costume design by six-time Tony Award winner Catherine Zuber; lighting design by two-time Tony winner Donald Holder; and video design by Luke Halls in his Met debut.

The Capitol Center for the Arts is pleased to announce that it will present 11 productions in next season's Met: Live in HD series, beginning with Verdi's Il Trovatore on Saturday, October 3, at 12:55pm. Single tickets for this series are on sale now for $26 Adults; $22 Seniors/Met/CCA Members; and $15 Students. Season subscriptions are also available at $234 Adults; $198 Seniors/Met/CCA Members; and $135 students.

The Metropolitan Opera's production of Otello will no longer be performed with its leading character in blackface.  The Met released the following statement:

The Met season opens with Verdi's masterful Otello, inspired by Shakespeare's play and matching it in tragic intensity. Director Bartlett Sher probes the Moor's dramatic downfall with an outstanding cast: tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko plays the doomed Otello; new soprano star Sonya Yoncheva sings Desdemona, Otello's innocent wife and victim; and baritone Željko Lu?i? plays the evil Iago, who masterminds Otello's demise. Dynamic maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.

Verdi's sweeping historical tragedy Don Carlo will return to the Met stage March 30for an eight-performance revival conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the dynamic maestro who led the 2010 Met premiere ofNicholas Hytner's critically acclaimed production. Yonghoon Lee will reprise his portrayal of the conflicted title hero, withFerruccio Furlanetto as his father and rival, the imposing Philip II; Barbara Frittoli as his lover, Elisabeth de Valois;Ekaterina Gubanova as Elisabeth's tormented lady-in-waiting, Princess Eboli; Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Rodrigo, Don Carlo's friend and ally; and James Morris as the menacing Grand Inquisitor.

Baritone Quinn Kelsey has been named the recipient of the tenth annual Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers at the Metropolitan Opera. The $50,000 award, the largest of its kind in the United States, is designated for extraordinarily gifted singers between the ages of 25 and 40 who have already appeared in featured solo roles at the Met.

For the second time in two seasons, casting has made me reconsider a Met production that I'd written off as past its expiration date. The first was Diana Damrau and Javier Camarena in Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA. This time around it's the wonderful Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva, who breathed new life into the Willy Decker LA TRAVIATA. She's a marvel, both as an actress and a singer.

On Wednesday 14 January 2015, at HUSH in Mayfair, the finalists of the International Opera Awards 2015 were announced. These were selected by the jury chaired by John Allison, editor of Opera magazine and classical music critic with The Daily Telegraph.