'Orchestra, Ballet, Opera, and Gugak on One Stage' National Symphony 2024 Opening Concert

At National Theater's Haeoreum Theater on the 14th of Next Month

The National Symphony Orchestra will hold the 2024 season opening concert on January 14 at the National Theater's Haeoreum Theater. The opening concert will feature a diverse program combining orchestral music, ballet, opera, and traditional Korean pansori.

Under the baton of David Reiland, Artistic Director of the National Symphony Orchestra, the performance will begin with the overture to Johann Strauss II's operetta Die Fledermaus. The overture is a lively waltz piece frequently performed at the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert. Following this, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, which captures the joys and sorrows of African Americans and the splendor of the modern city in early 1900s America, will be performed. This piece, blending jazz and classical music, will feature a collaboration with African American pianist Stuart Goodyear.

The second half will open with the overture to Mozart's final opera, The Magic Flute. Soprano Yu Sung-nyeo and Lee Hae-won, along with baritone Jo Byung-ik, will perform representative arias from The Magic Flute. Notably, audiences can enjoy the Queen of the Night’s famous aria "Der H?lle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" ("Hell’s vengeance boils in my heart") and the duet "Pa, pa, pa, Papageno!" sung by the bird-catcher Papageno and his lover Papagena.

Next, major pieces from Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake will be performed. National Ballet dancers Park Jong-seok and Shim Hyun-hee will present a beautiful pas de deux from Swan Lake.

The final segment will feature a fusion of Western orchestra and pansori. The piece "Eosa Chultu" from Chunhyangga will be performed, culminating with "Ari Arirang." The crossover group Crezl and the pansori singer Kim Su-in, who is actively performing with the National Changgeuk Company, will collaborate for this finale.

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