'Fidelio' to highlight Daegu Opera Festival

“Orfeo ed Euridice” performed by Landestheater Linz of Austria in a “ballet opera” combining orchestral music, opera and dance. / Courtesy of Daegu International Opera Festival

By Yun Suh-young

The 14th Daegu International Opera Festival kicks off on Oct. 6 and will continue until Nov. 5 at the Daegu Opera House.

This year’s event is themed "To Joy from Suffering" and will feature main performances of famous pieces such as “La Boheme,” “Fidelio,” “Orfeo ed Euridice,” “Tosca” and “Carmen.” Original foreign productions are invited to join the stage.

The masterpiece "La Boheme" of Italian opera composer Puccini will be performed by the Gwangju City Opera to mark the grand opening of the festival. “Fidelio,” the only opera ever composed by Beethoven, will be performed by Theater Bonn, the original producer of “Fidelio” from Beethoven’s birthplace. “Orfeo ed Euridice” will be performed by Landestheater Linz of Austria in a "ballet opera" combining orchestral music, opera and dance.

“Tosca,” Puccini’s most representative piece, will be performed by Korea National Opera. It will be a special performance featuring world-renowned opera singers, such as tenor Alfred Kim and baritone Ko Seng-hyoun. “Carmen,” a French opera masterpiece by composer Bizet, will close the event and will be performed by the Seongnam Cultural Foundation. It is prepared by director Chung Kap-gyun and conductor Sung Shi-yeon.

“La Boheme” performed by the Gwangju City Opera / Courtesy of Daegu International Opera Festival

"It's always difficult staging a well-known piece," said director Chung Kap-gyun. “Opera Carmen will feel different from reading the novel. While the written piece is colder, the opera is more heated.”

The piece includes mezzo-sopranos Rinat Shaham and Yang Gye-hwa as Carmen, tenors Han Yun-seok and Park Sin-hae as Don Jose and baritone Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar and Oh Seung-yong as Escamillo. Ganbaatar, winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition, will be featured in a Korean performance of “Carmen” for the first time. Oh is known as the "little giant" on the opera scene. He made a surprise performance during the press conference, Wednesday, overwhelming the audience with a short preview of his performance as Escamillo. As for Rinat Shaham, she has received rave reviews for her performances in “Carmen” so far.

"Daegu has developed a strong infrastructure for opera," said Jang Il-beom, music critic and executive director at the Daegu Opera House, Wednesday. “The city has a strong desire for opera so we have high hopes in this region. Of the pieces, I'm especially looking forward to Fidelio, which hasn't been performed since the first time the Korea National Opera staged it years ago.”

"Fidelio is being staged for the first time," said general artistic director Park Myung-gi. "We have invited foreign productions in an equal manner to the way they invite us. We both have equal footing as an inviter and invitee in opera festivals."

The ticket prices range from 10,000 won to 100,000 won. Soprano Sumi Jo will hold a concert ahead of the festival on Sept. 29 at the Daegu Opera House. For more information, visit daeguoperahouse.org or call 053) 666-6024.