KNO strives to create 'Operas for all'

Korea National Opera (KNO) Artistic Director Kim Hak-min, right, and KNO Artistic Adviser Massimo Guantini at the Opera Theater of the Seoul Arts Center / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

New version of ‘Soul Mate' to boost ‘K-opera

By Kwon Ji-youn

Some unfamiliar titles have made their way into the Korea National Opera's (KNO) repertoire this year. From April 28 to May 1, it is set to stage a production of "Rusalka," by Dvorak, and from May 18 through 21, a rendition of "Orlando Finto Pazzo," by Vivaldi.

The choices fall in line with artistic director Kim Hak-min's leading initiative for the KNO ― to create "operas for all people."

"The KNO is state-run, which means that its real sponsors are the public," Kim said in an interview with The Korea Times. "Access should not be limited regionally, or by class or wealth. Opera for all people is one of my philosophies as artistic director."

Kim, who took the helm of the KNO last year, has a lot planned for the next three years at the KNO. He hopes to take the opera company to more performance venues outside of Seoul, send more original Korean productions abroad and attract younger Korean audiences, those less familiar with the genre, with new and unexplored operas.

"It is important to help a new generation enter the opera world," said KNO artistic adviser Massimo Guantini, who joined Kim for the interview. "The opera world is in need of a new public for the future. Productions like Verdi's La Traviata can be too heavy for younger audiences, but baroque operas can help the new generation come and see an opera for the first time, and remain attracted to this world."

A scene from "Soul Mate" / Courtesy of the Korea National Opera

Kim agreed. "To cultivate new audiences, we need to have variety in our repertoire," he said. "This year, we have included several new operas. Orlando Finto Pazzo, in particular, is foreign not just to Korean audiences, but even to European and American audiences."

Kim chanced upon the score for Vivaldi's opera at Casa Ricordi, a publishing company of primarily classical music and opera based in Italy.

"During our visit, we encountered so many rare documents, including autobiographies by Puccini, Verdi and Rossini," Kim recalled. "There, I also found a totally new opera, an opera that has been forgotten."

He continued, "Korean audiences are not really tuned to baroque operas, but I thought, if I'm going to take a risk, why not take it to an extreme? Vivaldi is a very famous baroque composer and most Korean people are familiar with his music, but they're not familiar with his operas."

Kim has balanced the risk with conventional operas like Puccini's "Tosca" and Charles Gounod's "Romeo and Juliet."

"The thing about Romeo and Juliet is that even elementary students are familiar with the story, but they don't know the music," Kim said. "I would like to get audiences interested in the opera version."

Guantini agreed with Kim, adding, "The KNO is a state-run organization, so it is not only about selling tickets, but about giving culture to the people. He has to create culture, not just run a business. This is a big responsibility."

Maestro Guantini, a professor at the Conservatory of Vicenza, said he took up the advisor position with the KNO because of his fascination with Korean opera singers.

"While I was director of the board of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala, I learned that there are many talented Korean singers, and they love to come to Italy to learn to sing," he said. "I told one singer one time, I can see from the beginning whether a singer will be good. I am interested in finding new singers, understanding them and watching them grow."

‘K-opera'

Last year, the KNO staged "Soul Mate," an original Korean opera by Lim June-hee, in Hong Kong and Turkey.

"Soul Mate," which debuted in March 2006 at the Oper Frankfurt, received critical acclaim for its ideal blend of Korean culture and European formality. When the opera premiered in Korea in 2006 under a new name, audiences saw the birth of a Korean opera that all of the world could identify with.

"And the Turkish audience loved it," Guantini said. "They were attracted to it because what happened on stage made you concentrate. Now, it will be easy to make it even better, if the KNO concentrates on giving the opera more meaning, breathing new life into the orchestration and giving it something from the European way of creating operas. I think the music could be more European and the meaning more Korean. Of course, this is easier said than done."

Kim said the opera is good, but still a work in progress.

"For Soul Mate to represent K-opera, it needs to be more sophisticated, musically, dramatically and aesthetically," he stressed. "I plan on changing everything _ the adaptation of the storyline, the sophistication of the score, the orchestration, musical structure, dialogue, the set and even costumes. The traditional Joseon Kingdom costume isn't enough."

Kim said he doesn't understand why Korean culture is limited to popular music, dramas and dance and added that he intends to create more original Korean operas to increase culture exports in the classical sector.

"K-opera is a completely new concept, a newly coined term," he said. "For operas to succeed abroad, they need to be musically European and dramatically Korean. The storyline and the theme also need to be universally appealing. It is my hope that through the KNO, and through Soul Mate, opera fans abroad can experience Korean classical culture and art for themselves."

Both Kim and Guantini's greatest ambition for the KNO is to attract more fans to opera performances.

"After all, we sell culture, and culture needs people who love it," Guantini said.