National Theater 70th Anniversary Celebration 'Best Collection of Korean Opera'

At Myeongdong Arts Theater on the 22nd-23rd... Performances of 'Wonhyo', 'Sungyoja', 'Cheonsaengyeonbun', and 'Cheoyong'

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The National Opera Company will present the commemorative performance "Korean Opera Best Collection" at Myeongdong Arts Theater on the 22nd and 23rd, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the National Theater's opening.

This performance is a special stage celebrating the 70th anniversary of the National Theater, which has been the cradle for the founding of several national art organizations, including the National Opera Company. The National Opera Company has prepared a meaningful stage by gathering four of the most notable Korean operas from the beginning of Korean opera history to the present. Baritone Park Soo-gil, a representative senior vocalist and leader in the Korean opera scene who served as artistic director when the National Opera Company was newly launched as a foundation in 2000 and led Korean opera, will serve as the general director. Young and fresh director Byun Hyun-jin will collaborate as the director. The conductor will be Choi Seung-han, a former professor at Yonsei University, and top Korean vocalists including sopranos Kim Sung-eun and Park Hana, tenors Lee Jung-won and Kim Dong-won, baritones Kang Ki-woo and Woo Ju-ho will all participate to support the new future of Korean opera together.

The first part is a stage marking the beginning of Korean creative opera history, consisting of Jang Il-nam's "Wonhyo" and James Wade's "The Martyr" from the 1970s Korean creative opera. "Wonhyo" is an opera that expresses historical events and figures with a unique musical color embodying Korea's distinctive nationalistic ideas. James Wade, the composer of "The Martyr," was a US military officer stationed in Korea who greatly influenced the development of Korean music. In "The Martyr," Wade's love for Korea, who also served as a professor at Yonsei University's College of Music, is clearly expressed through the theme of Christianity.

The second part features "Cheonsaengyeonbun" by Korea's representative composer Lim Joon-hee and "Cheoyong" by Lee Young-jo. These are works by two leading composers who inherited the spirit of the origin of Korean creative opera and newly recreated Korean opera. "Cheonsaengyeonbun" and "Cheoyong" naturally combine traditional Korean musical colors with various Western musical styles, creating a great impact on the Korean music scene at the time. They also presented new directions to later composers and became a new cornerstone for Korean opera composition.

The National Opera Company will operate this performance, the first to welcome audiences since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), with a "distanced seating system," limiting the available seats to 98 per show out of 302 seats at Myeongdong Arts Theater. In addition to thorough quarantine measures, temperature checks will be conducted when audiences enter the theater to ensure their health and safety. All audience members must wear masks while watching the performance.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.