Page 258 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

featuring guest soprano and tenor Sonya Yoncheva and Riccardo
Massi.

It’s hard to say for which of his works Italian opera composer
Giacomo Puccini is best-known, though the use of ‘Nessun Dorma’
as the theme tune for a ’90s World Cup makes it a hot contender.
Being a particular fan of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, I had high hopes
for the theatricality of the evening, and was not disappointed.
Criticism of Puccini has included his popularity and mass appeal,
which I don’t see as negative: the emotions behind his compositions
are so clear that it’s a joy to listen to every one, and fairly impossible
not to become invested, especially with excellent musicians at the
helm, as was the case at yesterday’s performance. Subtle, the
evening was not – big emotions and big facial expressions abounded.
I was grateful for the leaflet of lyrics and translations provided;
though certainly it was possible to get the gist of each piece just by
watching and listening, it was nice to have the extra context.

The evening’s programme was split into parts: selections from La
Villi were followed by selections from La Boheme, with Madame
Butterfly and Manon Lescaut following in the second act. Each part
was opened by an orchestral piece, ahead of the guest singers
joining. The orchestra was, as ever, impeccable: they were note- and
tone-perfect, able to soar when required and at other times become
such subtle background to the opera singers as to be almost
unnoticed (the highest of compliments).

Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva and Italian tenor Riccardo Massi
took the stage to great acclaim. Yoncheva has recently performed
in Madama Butterfly in Berlin, and Massi is known for playing the
various heroes of Puccini, so expectations for both were high from
the get go. Massi wore a dark suit, and had facial expressions which
would put the drama masks to shame – the explicitness of his every
feeling of despair, joy, lust, and heartbreak was fully supported by his
vocals. Yoncheva was the quintessential soprano, in bridal white and
draped in pearls for the first act, and shimmering in silver and black
sequins for the second.

Yoncheva’s voice was a little thin on the high notes pre-interval,
lacking a certain resonance which came through with gusto in the
second act – she performed the various extracts from Manon
Lescaut especially well. The power of her voice didn’t play quite so