Soprano Shin Young-ok Returns as Lucia
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Shin Young-ok, South Korea's sweetheart soprano, will return to the local opera stage in Donizetti's ``Lucia di Lammermoor.''
The singer, who has performed in major venues all over the world with her pure, silvery voice, will assume the title role on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Seoul Arts Center, southern Seoul.
The opera tells the tragic tale of Lucia, who must give up the man she loves due to a forced arranged marriage. Ultimately, the heroine ends up killing her husband. The murder, known as the Mad Scene, is particularly famous.
For Shin, ``Lammermoor di Lucia'' occupies a special place in her heart. She rose to stardom after appearing in the New York Metropolitan Opera in 1991, and it was with this very piece that she made her local opera debut two years later.
``This is my second time playing Lucia in Korea,'' Shin said in a press conference recently held in Seoul. ``I played this role frequently abroad but it feels very different to do it here after 17 years.''
When asked if her interpretation of the character has evolved over time, she said: ``I made my official opera debut when I was 30. At first, I used to do only what the director told me to do, but the biggest difference now is that I can sing just feeling (the music) after all the experience I have accumulated.''
The New York Times praised Shin's 1994 performance at the Metropolitan Opera, saying she ``made her way through the title role with considerable success, showing a clean, pure soprano, confident phrasing and a reasonably sure command of the role's technical difficulties … The peak E flats in the Mad Scene rang out with remarkable accuracy.''
Mario Carradi, who is directing the upcoming performance, also expressed his admiration, saying that Shin ``is the best Lucia of our generation'' and that the audience can look forward to seeing ``the most unprecedented, raising Mad Scene in your life.''
Shin said that the Mad Scene is indeed the most enervating, and she finds her face ``bright red like a carrot,'' and her clothes and shoes drenched with sweat afterward.
``When I play Lucia, I dive into it, forgetting that I'm Shin Young-ok. The scenes where I kill someone and have blood all over me appear in my dreams. So I always fall ill after performing.''
She contemplated taking ``Lucia'' out of her repertoire, but the opportunity with the Korea National Opera came around. ``I'm having a ball rehearsing because it feels like family … I'm proud to see how sophisticated Korean opera has become.''
She added that the mise-en-scene, set in the 1910-20s Scotland, in the aftermath of World War I, is very impressive. ``It is very cinematic and novel, and the costumes are beautiful, so I'm very much looking forward to the actual performance.''
The Korean Symphony Orchestra will accompany.
Tickets cost from 10,000 to 150,000 won. Call (02) 586-5282.
신영옥 루치아로 다시 돌아와
소프라노 신영옥이 도니체티의 오페라 “람메르무어의 루치아”로 한국 무대에 선다.
감미로운 목소리로 전 세계 주요 무대에서 공연을 한 신 소프라노는 서울 예술의 전당에서 월요일, 수요일 그리고 금요일 타이틀 역을 맡는다.
이 오페라는 강제로 맺어준 결혼 때문에 사랑하는 사람을 포기해야 하는 루치아의 비극적 이야기를 말해주고 있다. 궁극적으로 이 여 주인공은 자신의 남편을 살해함으로써 끝을 낸다. “미친장면”으로 알려진 살인자는 특히 유명한 장면이다.