A charming Monteverdi L'Orfeo in Seoul

By Percy Dorian Lee, 04 August 2015

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Reviewed at Sejong Cultural Center, Seoul on 26 July 2015

Monteverdi, L'Orfeo (Orpheus), SV318

Seoul Metropolitan Opera

Hye-wook Jung, Euridice

Jin-ah Huh, Euridice

Gyo-won Han, Orfeo

Seil Kim, Orfeo

Ju Hee Jung, La musica

Bohae Kim, La messaggiera

Hee Sang Lee, La speranza

Seok Neuk Lee, Apollo

Jun Hyuk Park, Caronte

In Hui Kim, Plutone

L'Orfeo, the world's first great opera, premieres at Glyndebourne

Roy Westbrook, 14th June

One element of the Orpheus myth is about creativity, so at Glyndebourne, William Kentridge sets Monteverdi's opera in an artist's studio,

****1

Darkness without passion: Damiano Michieletto’s Carmen at La Scala

Laura Servidei, 12th June

Despite Michieletto's visual gloom, the evening is redeemed by Myung-whun Chung’s masterful conducting and a cast that brings conviction to a production that rarely trusts the opera’s own dramatic power.

**111

Aldeburgh Festival dives in at the deep end with Pelléas and Mélisande

Eleanor Knight, 12th June

Rory Kinnear directs a minimally semi-staged performance of Debussy's problematic opera at Snape Maltings, but Ryan Wigglesworth and the BBC Scottish SO provide the detail.

****1

Monteverdi and Ulisse return happily to Garsington Opera

David Karlin, 12th June

Laurence Cummings and John Caird’s second Garsington exploration of the operas of Monteverdi brims with wonderfully playing and singing in an attractive setting.

****1

A thrilling Slavic Iolanta from Chișinău

Peter Quantrill, 11th June

Young voices shine in Tchaikovsky's last opera in a new and rustic updating by Moldovan director Slava Sambriș.

****1

McVicar’s Figaro celebrates its 20th Royal Opera anniversary

Dominic Lowe, 8th June

While this revival is imperfect, the Cherubino of Svetlina Stoyanova proves a marvel to hear.

***11

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Percy Dorian Lee

Hailed as “the most charming…artist…with personality,” Percy Dorian Lee has been an active musician worldwide, having been the First Prize winner of a number of competitions for piano and performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Salle Cortot in Paris and Bishopsgate Hall in London. His compositions have been heard to an acclaim in such venues as the Kennedy Center and Berlin Philharmonic Chamber Music Hall. He holds degrees and diplomas from The Juilliard School and Yale University, and he has been on the jury of national and international music competitions as well as on the faculty of a well-known university in Korea.

A charming Monteverdi L'Orfeo at Seoul Metropolitan Opera