The Sonya Yoncheva's succesful zarzuela debut at the Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid.

In recent years, more and more international opera stars are approaching to Zarzuela, the Spanish lyric genre, like Angel Blue or Elina Garança, in successful concerts. Many non-Spanish or Latino opera-goers know zarzuela mostly for the albums or arias (in this case, romanzas) sung in concerts by great artists like Plácido Domingo, or the late ones Victoria de los Ángeles, Montserrat Caballé and Alfredo Kraus among others, all of them major performers of zarzuela too.  Something needed in a musical genre said to be declining due to allegedly an aging audience and certainly -very sadly- the "old-fashion, dated" prejudice among many young people.

Joining the list of recent stars singing Zarzuela, Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva has made her debut in this genre, as well as at its major theatre, the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, in a successful concert with all the tickets being sold out. Most Zarzuela fans and the most regular opera goers attended this singular event. This was the program:

FEDERICO CHUECA (1846-1908): Preludio, La alegría de la Huerta (1900) (instrumental)
PABLO SOROZÁBAL (1897-1988): Romanza: «Noche hermosa», Katiuska (1931) Texto de Emilio González del Castillo y Manuel Martí Alonso
FEDERICO MORENO TORROBA (1891-1982): Petenera: «Tres horas antes del día», La Marchenera (1928) Texto de Ricardo González del Toro y Fernando Luque
P. SOROZÁBAL: Intermedio, Los Burladores (1948) (instrumental)
RAFAEL MILLÁN (1893-1957): Romanza: «La luz de la tarde se va», El pájaro azul (1921) Texto de Antonio López Monís
MIGUEL MARQUÉS (1843-1918): Romanza: «Lágrimas mías en dónde estáis», El anillo de hierro (1878) Texto de Marcos Zapata
JOAQUÍN GAZTAMBIDE (1822-1870): Romanza: «Yo me vi en el mundo desamparada», El juramento (1858) Texto de Luis de Olona
GERÓNIMO GIMÉNEZ (1854-1923): Preludio, Los Borrachos (1899) (instrumental)
PABLO LUNA (1879-1942): Canción: «De España vengo», El niño judío (1918)
P. SOROZÁBAL Romanza: «No corte más que una rosa», La del manojo de rosas (1934)
REVERIANO SOUTULLO (1880-1932) y JUAN VERT (1890-1931): Intermedio, La leyenda del beso (1924) (instrumental)
MANUEL PENELLA (1880-1939): Dúo: «¡Vaya una tarde bonita!», El gato montés (1917) Texto de Manuel Penella
RUPERTO CHAPÍ(1851-1909): Carceleras: «Al pensar en el dueño de mis amores», Las hijas del Zebedeo (1889) Texto de José Estremera
GONZALO ROIG (1890-1970): Salida: «¡Yo soy Cecilia!», Cecilia Valdés (1932) Texto de Agustín Rodríguez y José Sánchez-Arcilla, basado en Cirilo Villaverde

Yoncheva's beautiful voice has a lyric tone, able to reach also a darker, spinto sound, with an exquisite phrasing and legato. She is able to range notes while maintaining them in pianissimo. High notes can be superb, as well as the coloratura. Her low register is also remarkable. She prepared well the pronounciation,  considering this was her zarzuela debut. Her level increased as the performance was going by. 

She started with the romanza from Katiuska with a troubled final high note, but from her second number, she remarkably improved. Among the best moments were the melancholic romanza from El Anillo de Hierro, sung with dramatism, in a beautiful middle register, in a spinto style, the cheerful romanza from El Pájaro Azul, with a verismo style, fit to Yoncheva's tessitura, with a delightful singing in this piece. 

Her rendition of the famous song "De España vengo" from El niño judío, with her colourful, devoted, the voice at its peak, velvet low notes, shining high notes and her funny and folk-like dance. In the aria "No corté más que una rosa" from La del Manojo de Rosas she sang with sensibility,  in a nice singing. Before her final piece, she adressed the audience in Spanish, saying how happy she was to sing Zarzuela, how difficult it is, and how pleased she was to make her debut in such important venue for this genre. After that, she sang the famous entrance song from  the Cuban zarzuela Cecilia Valdés, with a dazzling coloratura, in a cheerful mood, dancing, to finish with a spectacular final high note in the line "¡Yo soy Cecilia Valdés!".

There were two encores given: a repetition of the"Petenera" from La Marchenera, better sung that the first time, and as farewell the Habanera from Carmen, accompanied with a piano played by the conductor. Her Habanera was one of the best moments, maybe because this is her repertoire, sung in a seductive way, with a sensual diction, a wonderful mezzo-like tone and an exquisite and clear French pronounciation. Even she "flirted" with one of the musicians! She was strongly ovaciones after the Habanera, and her smile and bows revealed how thankful and grateful she was.

One of the pieces in the concert was the duo from El Gato Montés, in which the Spanish tenor Alejandro del Cerro  came to sing with Yoncheva. A leggero tenor, his voice has nevertheless a bigger volume than Yoncheva's, with a superb projection. Phrasing was clear, recreating well the Andalusian accent (a Spanish native speaker, for obvious reasons he could be more understandable for Spanish-speaking ears than Yoncheva), and his high register is remarkable. His cheerful, passionate singing in this duet did steal Yoncheva the show, even when she sang very well.

Miquel Ortega conducted the orchestra (Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid) with his usual good work. Like the diva, it improved through the show. The orchestra gave beautiful renditions of the Prelude from Los Borrachos, or the Intermezzo from Los Burladores. The brass and woodwind sections were in a great shape, with the flutes sounding superbly in the romanza from El pájaro azul, and so did the trumpet in its solo in the romanza from El Juramento. The famous Intermezzo from La Leyenda del Beso, in which the orchestra sounded richly, in a symphonical rendition, with a dramatic sound from the strings, as well their pizzicato sound which was overwhelming. They also reached a shining, beautiful rendition in the also celebrated romanza "No corte más que una rosa" from La del Manojo de Rosas. He gave a beautiful accompaniment at the piano to the final Habanera.

                                      

Every year, the Teatro de la Zarzuela hosts a cycle of concerts featuring noted artists, veterans or novels in zarzuela, but completely devoted, which results in unforgettable opera nights like this one. Yoncheva was happy singing last night, as well as the audience for listening her, dazzling everyone with ther voice and renditions. This is so necessary  to show that zarzuela is still alive and a promising genre.

                                

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