“It’s always important to push the limits": Opera star Sonya Yoncheva’s breathtaking journey

She’s one of the greatest sopranos of our time who never ceases to take on new challenges: Sonya Yoncheva. The Bulgarian soprano can now add Maddalena, the tragic heroine in Andrea Chénier, performedat the prestigious La Scala opera house,to her list of debut roles.

The seasoned performer is also making another debut as Ciò-Ciò-San in 'Madama Butterfly' at the Vienna Staatsoper. But how has the opera sensation made these two roles their own?

Inside her Milanese studio, Sonya treated Musica to Andrea Chénier's musical score on the piano, "It helps me a lot to play the score on the piano. And it's a very intimate moment because I can basically decide and try different colours, you know?“ she explained.

Two weeks before the premiere she immersed herself in preparations for the 'sitzprobe' or seated rehearsal.

"It's the first opportunity for the singers to hear how the orchestra plays to get into this wonderful mixture that is the magic of opera" explained conductor Marco Armilato. 

"When an orchestra plays live, the singers sing live, you create this magic and already in Italian, you can understand more or less how the performance will work“ he added.

Sonya echoed the importance of rehearsing with the orchestra: “We are in a kind of a safe place so we can basically allow each other to be wrong sometimes and not be perfect and this is a very important rehearsal.”

The next step is the stage rehearsals where the singers get to know the set and practice their entrances and exits. 

The sweeping drama tells the story of the revolutionary poet Andrea Chénier who falls in love with Maddalena but their love is doomed with a devastating ending.

"Now I'm still working on the character because for me it's a brand new piece. But what I can tell