12th Korea Opera Festival puts women in the spotlight

By Park Ji-won

Poster for the Korea Opera Festival Courtesy of Korea Opera Festival

The 12th Korea Opera Festival will be held from May 7 to June 6 and will showcase six works on women's life in two theaters in Seoul.

The festival, which will take place in Seoul Arts Center and the National Theater of Korea, will present three classical operas ― “Aida” (May 7 to 9), “Tosca” (May 21 to 23) and “Anna Bolena” (May 29 and 30) at the Opera Theater of the Seoul Arts Center while showcasing “The Telephone & The Medium” (May 28 to 30) and “Una Furtiva Lagrima” (A Furtive Tear, June 4 to 6) at the Jayu Theater and “[Brahms…]” at the National Theater of Korea.

The three works ― “Aida,” “Tosca” and “Anna Bolena” ― center on the tragic lives of women who either kill themselves or are killed in pursuit of their true love. “Aida” shows an enslaved Ethiopian princess, killing herself after falling in love with Radames, an Egyptian military commander, who also kills himself for his love of Aida while Amneris the Egypt's King's daughter, who also loves Radames, prays for him. In “Tosca,” the namesake character, a singer, jumps to death after the death of his lover. In “Anna Bolena,” the namesake character is beheaded.

“The Telephone & The Medium” revolves around contemporary women who are addicted to telephone use and will be showcased for the first time with the festival.

In “Una Furtiva Lagrima,” an adaptation from the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti's opera “L'elisir d'amore” (The Elixir of Love) which revolves around Adina who seeks true love. The performance is set in Seoul and will be sung in Korean

“[Brahms…]” shows the life of Clara Schumann, a composer who was also the wife of Robert Schumann and the teacher of Brahms.

Due to the spread of the coronavirus, the festival has been downsized and showcased only three pieces last year. This year, however, it is back on its original scale.

Established in 2010, the annual festival has been showcasing more than 40 operas in 200 performances with some 250,000 audience members in attendance.