Asian pioneer at the Met

Metropolitan Opera’s Hong Hei-kyung will sing a selection of arias that have been central to her career during a recital in Seoul on June 12. / Courtesy of Credia

Soprano Hong Hei-kyung celebrates 30 years at top US opera house

By Do Je-hae

After 30 years at the Metropolitan Opera, Hong Hei-kyung is one of the most seasoned veterans at the iconic opera house.

It was in 1984 when the lyric soprano made her Met debut under the baton of James Levine, music director of the Met since 1976. Levine had her singing the role of Servilia in Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito,” and Hong has appeared at the Met every season since then.

Hong’s upcoming Seoul recital will be held in celebration of her unique accomplishment at the Met as one of its pioneering Asian artists. She will sing at Seoul Arts Center on June 12 with pianist and Met colleague Jonathan Kelly as her accompanist.

The singer has programmed arias from operas that have been central to her repertoire at the Met, including Mozart’s operas “La Clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus),” “Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)” and Italian classics, such as “La Boheme” and “Rigoletto.”

Hong Hei-Kyung performs during a rehearsal for the Metropolitan Opera’s "La Traviata," in New York in this 2012 file photo. / AP-Yonhap

In recent years, Hong has been recognized for her performances in Met’s revival of Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette” and William Decker’s modern production of “La Traviata.”

In 2012, the Hong was lauded by fans and critics when she was thrown in at the last minute to star in Decker’s strikingly modern production of Verdi’s “La Traviata,” replacing the indisposed French soprano Natlalie Dessay.

An AP review read: “Hong remains a marvel of vocal freshness and allure after nearly 30 seasons at the Met. The rapid passage work of ‘Sempre Libera’ held no terrors for her, and the purity and control of her ‘Addio del Passato,’ with its long-held final A-natural, was like a master class in technique.” She had never performed Decker’s version before, making her stellar performance all the more remarkable.

One of the biggest reasons for her longevity at the Met is her versatility. She has sung more than 40 roles during her career at the Met. At age 52, she was still convincing as a young girl in love in Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette” in 2012.

She waited until 2004 to sing her first Violetta in “La Traviata,” to ensure that her voice was ready to tackle the vocal challenges of such an emotional role. She became the first Asian to sing Violetta at the Met.

As of 2010, her most frequent-sung role at the Met is Mimi in “La Boheme” (59 performances), followed by Liu in “Turandot” (33), Micaela in “Carmen” (31) and Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro (30).

While many Korean opera singers have struggled with the acting side of their jobs, Hong is also a fine actress with a commanding stage presence.

A winner of the 1982 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Hong has been a role model for Korean opera singers. She is the most experienced among an increasing number of Korean singers at the Met, including Kathleen Kim and Kim Ji-hee.

Hong was born in Gangwon Province and moved to New York as a teenager to train at the Juilliard School of Music. She was one of four singers invited to attend Herbert von Karajan’s master classes at the 1983 Salzburg Festival.

Although Hong has been based at the Met since her debut, she has also performed at some of the most important venues in Europe, including the Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera and at La Scala.

The Metropolitan Opera has been a longtime favorite among Korean opera lovers. In recent years, The Met’s screening project has added to its popularity here. “The Met: Live in HD” has been transmitting live performances to 1,700 venues in 54 countries with subtitles in English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese and Korean. The screenings include live performances as well as interviews and commentaries by leading artists.