A midsummer night’s dream; Seoul Arts Center (1)

The Korea National Opera (Director Choi Sang-ho) presents Britten's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", its domestic premiere.

It will meet with the audience at the Seoul Arts Center Opera House for four consecutive days, starting from April 11. The performance is a rare English opera composed by British opera composer Benjamin Britten based on Shakespeare's play "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and is a modern opera that premiered in 1960. The Korea National Opera aims to introduce fresh works to the audience through "A Midsummer Night's Dream" to promote the charm of various operas.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" is the main story of the fairy king, Obern, his wife, and Titania. Director of this upcoming performance, Wolfgang Nägele, elaborates on his interpretation of the opera. The following is his notes on the concept of the dream illustrated in the opera.

In the forest, in the dream, everything is suddenly possible. Things that are not allowed in the daylight, things that are a threat to social peace and order. Boundaries blur and rules disappear. This is fascinating and frightening at the same time. 

In Shakespeare's work, but also in Britten's, the forest is a dark, dangerous, constantly changing, labyrinthine playground for all kinds of forbidden thoughts and dreams. This is shown by the sexual connection between Titania and the ass, which would never be tolerated outside this dream world. 

In contrast to the later reinterpretation of the story in European Romanticism, for example in Mendelssohn’s adaptation, Shakespeare’s forest is not only a beautiful, magical place, but also full of danger and occult intangible figures. 

The world of the Other, that cannot be put into words, which eludes the rationality of an enlightened society. It is the world where the boundaries between reality, fantasy and illusion vanish.

Another attraction of this work is that audiences can meet vocalists of various voices. It is a unique work that features a counter tenor, a male vocalist with a high range, and features James Laing and Jang Jeong-kwon, the king of fairies and all counter tenors as Obern. James Laing is a vocalist who has been making repertoire with works such as "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "The Death of Venice" and "La Callisto." The Guardian of the U.K. stated that James Laing showed a heart-wrenching performance, while Opera Now said that he has the charisma of a young and romantic hero. Jang Jeong-kwon, the countertenor, has been active in Europe, mainly in Germany and the U.K., with his "excellent musicality, unrivaled tone and rich voice."

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