Chiara Isotton Replaces Sonya Yoncheva in Met's 'Medea' on Nov. 10

The Metropolitan Opera has announced that Chiara Isotton will sing the title role in "Medea" on Nov. 10, 2026. She replaces Sonya Yoncheva for that performance.

The company confirmed the cast change through its official announcement. No reason for Yoncheva's withdrawal from the single date was given. These things happen in opera houses. They happen rather a lot.

Isotton is not a stranger to the Met stage. She made her company debut in 2023 in "Fedora" (Umberto Giordano's verismo opera of jealous passion and a dying countess). Since then she has built a career across Europe's major houses.

Her résumé includes:

• Teatro alla Scala in Milan
• Teatro La Fenice in Venice
• Teatro Comunale in Bologna
• Deutsche Oper Berlin
• Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence

Who else is on stage on Nov. 10?

Isotton joins a cast that the Met says includes Elena Villalón, Victoria Karkacheva, Michael Spyres, and Alexandros Stavrakakis. Carlo Rizzi conducts.

The production itself remains unchanged. Only the soprano at its center shifts.

What about Yoncheva's remaining dates?

Yoncheva has not left the production entirely. She returns for the Nov. 13, 2026 performance, according to the announcement. Isotton is then scheduled to perform again on Nov. 21, 2026.

The arrangement gives the run a split personality: three performances of Cherubini's murderous heroine (the Greek myth of the woman who kills her children to avenge her husband's betrayal), divided between two sopranos with different voices and different stage histories.

For audiences, that means the Nov. 10 and Nov. 21 dates offer a first extended look at Isotton in one of the repertoire's most punishing title roles at the Met. The Nov. 13 performance belongs to Yoncheva.

Why cast changes matter here

A title-role swap in "Medea" is not a small logistical footnote. The role anchors nearly every scene and demands both dramatic weight and sustained vocal power, which makes a substitute's readiness the difference between a routine evening and a career-making one.

Isotton's 2023 debut in "Fedora" gives the Met audience at least one prior reference point. Those who saw it can calibrate expectations. Everyone else will find out on Nov. 10, 2026, when Rizzi raises the baton and the new Medea steps into the light.