Metropolitan Orchestra visits Korea in June

The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra of New York, dubbed the dream of vocalists across the world, will make its first visit to South Korea.

Collaborating with legendary conductors such as Gustav Mahler, Arturo Toscanini, and Bruno Walter since its foundation in 1883, the orchestra will feature “Bluebeard's Castle” by composer Béla Bartók on June 19, and Mozart concert arias and “Symphony No. 5” by Gustav Mahler on the following day at Lotte Concert Hall, Seoul. Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads the band as its current music director, who joined in 2018.

The first program of this band will be incredibly embroidered with a group of renowned artists. Latvian mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča, currently at the peak of her career, sings Judith in “Bluebeard's Castle.” Since her debut as the leading actress of Rosina in “The Barber of Seville” by Gioachino Rossini at the Met Opera in 2008, she has dazzled U.S. and European audiences by joining almost every show with the mezzo-soprano in the spotlight. Back in 2013, she earned the title of “Kammersänger” in the Vienna State Opera House.

On the second day of the Korean program, soprano Lisette Oropesa sings Mozart’s concert arias, including “Vado, Ma Dove?” and “A Berenice… Sol nascente.” Presented the 2019 recipient of the Beverly Sills Artist Award, she has performed in leading opera theaters across Europe and the United States.

Previously working as the principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, music director Nézet-Séguin, the current music director of the Met Opera and the Philadelphia Orchestra, is considered one of the most prominent North American conductors in the world. Referring to the Met Opera as the best of its kind across the globe, he said that the orchestra always pays careful attention to whatever happens on stage and does its utmost to artistically portray how a piece of music changes and flows.


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