National Opera Company Presents Domestic Premiere of 'Seobu-ui Agassi' and Original Opera 'Brahms...'

February Online Streaming Platform 'MyOpera' Launch
In the Second Half, Nabuko, Samson and Delilah, La Traviata

Scene from the performance of 'Nabuko'
Photo by National Opera Company

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The National Opera Company will premiere Puccini's opera The Girl of the West domestically this July. In May, the company will perform the original opera Brahms... at the National Theater's Daloreum Theater.

Prior to this, in February, the National Opera Company plans to launch 'KNOmyOpera,' an exclusive online streaming platform for its productions. As the non-face-to-face performance market grows, the platform will introduce a new system that allows real-time live broadcasts of operas as well as VOD viewing of past performances. Videos secured through online live broadcasts last year will be provided as VOD services on MyOpera, and performances staged this year will be streamed live online simultaneously with offline shows via MyOpera.

Additionally, the highly praised master classes in vocal music, opera conducting, and musical coaching from last year will be expanded into a systematic curriculum under the National Opera Company's Opera Academy. Long-loved operas such as Nabucco, La Traviata, and Samson and Delilah will also be staged.

The National Opera Company announced its performance schedule for this year on the 12th. With new works like The Girl of the West and Brahms..., and new systems such as KNOmyOpera, the company aims to expand opera and respond to the crisis caused by the spread of COVID-19.

In the first half of the year, the National Opera Company will focus more on gala performances than full-length operas, considering the difficulty of maintaining a stable schedule due to COVID-19 risks. From March to May, five gala performances will be held at regional theaters such as the Chungcheongnam-do Arts Center. The cast for these five performances will be selected through auditions, providing job opportunities for vocalists affected by COVID-19.

The National Opera Gala will feature beautiful arias from various masterpieces including Bellini's The Puritans, Verdi's Il Trovatore, Attila, Macbeth, Evening Prayer at Sicily, Puccini's Manon Lescaut, Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, Gounod's Faust, and Massenet's Werther. Some of the works featured in the gala will be expanded into full-length operas based on audience response and the completeness of the works, and will be presented on next year's regular performance stage.

Scene from the performance of 'La Traviata'
Photo by National Opera Company

The opera Brahms... (May 13?16, National Theater Daloreum) is based on the life and works of Johannes Brahms, a representative Romantic composer who lived a life like a movie. Composer Jeon Ye-eun and director Han Seung-won are participating in the creative team to bring this beautiful musical drama about life and love to the stage.

The domestic premiere of Puccini's opera The Girl of the West (July 1?4, Seoul Arts Center Opera Theater) will be directed by Nicola Berloffa, who directed the National Opera Company's Cosi fan tutte in 2018, with Italian maestro Michelangelo Mazza conducting.

In August, Verdi's Nabucco (August 12?15, National Theater Haeoreum), and in September, Saint-Sa?ns' Samson and Delilah (October 7?10, Seoul Arts Center Opera Theater) will be performed. Nabucco depicts the biblical story of the Jewish people enduring long years of oppression and persecution while awaiting the day of liberation. The production of Nabucco will be directed by Stefano Poda, who showed groundbreaking direction in the National Opera Company's Andrea Ch?nier (2015) and Boris Godunov (2018).

In December, Verdi's opera La Traviata (December 2?5, Seoul Arts Center Opera Theater) will be presented as the final performance of the year.