Korea Opera Festival to begin from June 4

The 11th Korea Opera Festival, which was postponed from May due to the spread of the new coronavirus, will begin on June 4.

The festival, which will take place in three different theaters of the Seoul Arts Center, will have two separate parts this year to avoid too many people gathering. The first half of the performance will be held in June and the other half will take place from August to September.

From June 4-14, the festival will be held at Seoul Arts Center’s Jayu Theater.

From Aug 7-23, the festival will continue in Opera Theater and from Sept. 4-5 performances will take place at CJ Towol Theater of Seoul Arts Center.

From June 4-7, opera company The Art Society will perform composer Gian Carlo Menotti’s two pieces -- “The Telephone” and “The Medium.” From June 12 to 14, composer Gaetano Donizetti’s “Una furtiva lagrima” will be performed.

In August and Sept, four operas -- “Soul Mate,” “Rigoletto,” “Die Fledermaus” and “Red Shoes” -- are prepared to meet the audiences.

In keeping with the government’s social distancing guidelines, the organizer said all the audiences must go through temperature checks and wear masks. Also, every other seat will be empty to keep distance between the audiences.

Established in 2010, the festival aims to show a wide spectrum of operas, rather than reproducing money-making pieces. Over the last 10 years, the festival has been showcasing over 40 opera pieces while holding more than 200 performances with around 250,000 audiences.

The organizing committee of the festival is composed of six big and small opera companies participating in the annual event.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)