On February 28, 2023, Sonya Yoncheva will sing the title role of Norma at the Metropolitan Opera, in a production by David McVicar and under the musical direction of Maurizio Benini, singing a total of seven performances, the last one taking place on March 25. She will share the stage with Michael Spyres as Pollione, Ekaterina Gubanova as Adalgisa, and Christian Van Horn as Oroveso.

The Bulgarian soprano has been one of the most acclaimed artists on the Met stage for the last decade; she made her local debut as Gilda in Rigoletto in 2013 and has since then been celebrated as Mimì in La bohème, Desdemona in Otello, Élisabeth in Don Carlos and the title roles of La traviata, Iolanta, Luisa Miller, Tosca and Fedora, the latest just two months ago.

This is her third outing as the Druid priestess Norma, after highly successful performances at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in 2016, and at the Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona this past summer, which prompted Òpera Actual to write: “With a voice with a dark timbre and wide resonance throughout her range, Sonya Yoncheva showed with her Norma, together with a physical presence of impressive authority, the right vocality”.

[Photo: Victor Santiago]