site.btaYoncheva Reprises Her Signature Role in Puccini’s "Tosca" on Bulgarian Stage

Opera star Sonya Yoncheva will headline a production of Tosca in Varna on Tuesday evening, an event held under the patronage of the Minister of Culture, Marian Bachev, according to the Theatrical and Musical Production Centre in the city.

The internationally renowned soprano will take on her signature role in Puccini’s masterpiece Tosca as part of the 16th edition of the Opera in the Summer Theatre festival. The performance will be conducted by Maestro Nayden Todorov, Director of the Sofia Philharmonic. The production, designed by Kuzman Popov, is directed by Srebrena Sokolova.

Yoncheva will be joined on stage by local talents including Valery Georgiev as Cavaradossi, Plamen Dimitrov as Baron Scarpia, Evgeni Stanimirov as Angelotti, and Geo Chobanov as the Sacristan, alongside the chorus and orchestra of the Varna Opera.

Following her debut as Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 2017, the role has become one of Yoncheva’s most celebrated. She has performed it on leading stages worldwide, including Arena di Verona, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, the Caracalla Festival in Rome, the Vienna and Berlin State Operas, Munich Opera, and Rome Opera – with whom she also toured Japan. In Bulgaria, Yoncheva has performed Tosca in her hometown of Plovdiv. The Varna production marks only her second time singing the role on home soil.

Sonya Yoncheva will also appear in a second production as part of Opera in the Summer Theatre in Varna. On 9 August, she will perform in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades, a production by Vera Nemirova conducted by Maestro Grigor Palikarov.

Her stage partner will be Armenian tenor Arsen Soghomonyan. The pair previously performed the lead roles of Hermann and Liza in The Queen of Spades at the Metropolitan Opera in New York this May, organizers noted. Soghomonyan has also sung the role at the Reina Sofia Palace of the Arts in Madrid (2023), in a concert version with the Armenian National Philharmonic last year, and at the Bavarian State Opera this spring. Following his appearance in Varna, he is set to reprise the role in Liege, Belgium in 2026. His upcoming season includes engagements at the Vienna State Opera, the Greek National Opera, the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, and the Monte Carlo Opera.