Aida and Rigoletto: Verdi's Operas Illuminate the Stage

Seoul Metropolitan Opera Company to Stage "Aida" Next Month
Sol Opera Company Presents "Rigoletto" on the 31st
Love Triangle, Revenge... A Tragic Fate

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) and Richard Wagner (1813-1883) are widely regarded as the two most influential composers in the history of opera. Coincidentally, both were born in 1813 and went on to become the leading figures representing Italian and German opera, respectively. Enthusiasts who favor their music are referred to as 'Verdians' and 'Wagnerians.'

While the National Opera Company and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra are set to stage Wagner's monumental work "Tristan und Isolde," which runs for five hours, this December, several of Verdi's masterpieces will be performed in succession in November.

The Seoul Metropolitan Opera Company will present "Aida" at the Grand Theater of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts from November 13 to 16, while the Sol Opera Company will stage "Rigoletto" at the Opera Theater of the Seoul Arts Center from October 31 to November 2. Along with "La Traviata" and "Otello," these works are among the most representative of Verdi's oeuvre.

"Aida" and "Rigoletto" share the commonality of being works associated with the history of the opening of the Suez Canal in Egypt. In 1869, when the Suez Canal was inaugurated, Egypt was a province of the Ottoman Empire enjoying considerable autonomy. At the time, Ismail Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt, aspired to modernize Egypt along European lines. He sought to announce the opening of the Suez Canal to the world by building an opera house in Cairo and commissioned Italy's most renowned opera composer, Verdi, to create the inaugural work. Verdi initially declined Ismail Pasha's proposal, and thus, "Rigoletto" was performed as the opening piece for the Cairo Opera House at the time of the canal's opening. "Rigoletto" was already nearly twenty years old at that point, having premiered at La Fenice in Venice in 1851. Verdi later accepted Ismail Pasha's commission and composed "Aida," set in Egypt. "Aida" premiered at the Cairo Opera House on December 24, 1871, two years after the opening of the Suez Canal.

Aida is an Ethiopian princess captured and brought to Egypt. The opera depicts a tragic love triangle between Aida, the Egyptian general Radam?s who falls in love with her, and Amneris, the Egyptian princess who loves Radam?s. "Aida" is also well known as the title of a musical produced by Elton John and Tim Rice, which premiered in 1998.

"Rigoletto" is also a tragedy. The protagonist, Rigoletto, is a hunchbacked jester at the court of the Duke of Mantua, who is notorious for his womanizing. When Rigoletto discovers that the Duke's advances have reached his own daughter, Gilda, he becomes enraged. Rigoletto hires an assassin to exact revenge on the Duke, but his plan backfires, resulting in the devastating loss of his daughter. "Rigoletto" is based on the novel "Le roi s'amuse" by the great French writer Victor Hugo.

The Seoul Metropolitan Opera Company is preparing a grand production with a cast and orchestra totaling over 200 people. In particular, the famous triumphal march scene in "Aida" will feature a chorus of more than 100 singers on stage. The role of Aida will be performed by soprano Lim Sekyung, who in 2015 became the first Korean to play the lead in "Aida" at the Verona Opera Festival, and by Cho Sunhyung, who won first prize at competitions in Bilbao, Spain, and Parma, Italy. The role of Radam?s will be sung by tenors Shin Sanggeun and Guk Yoonjong, while mezzo-sopranos Yang Songmi and Kim Serin will appear as Amneris.

In Sol Opera Company's "Rigoletto," the role of Gilda will be performed by soprano Kathleen Kim, who has graced the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and by soprano Natalia Roman, a principal singer at the Arena di Verona in Italy. The role of Rigoletto will be sung by Italian baritone Alberto Gazale and Kang Hyungkyu, while the Duke of Mantua will be portrayed by tenors Park Jimin and Kim Jinhoon.