Met soprano snubs Korea
mainHei-Kyung Hong, a regular at the Metropolitan Opera ever since winning its 1982 auditions, has declined a request to become head of Korea National Opera. The company has been in crisis since Regina Han quit after 53 days in February, forced out by a politically inspired media campaign.
Hong said she’s under-qualified. KNO is running out of options. The Seoul Philharmonic is in similar crisis, as is the KBS Orchestra.
Korea is now a no-go zone for music management.
That was going to be my question. A fine, classy singer, but does she have ANY experience as an administrator?
This does not by itself make Korea a no-go zone; maybe other things do.
Also, why do we use the term “MET Soprano?” She sings in many places, as do most opera singers. I hear the term all the time – it’s a way to convey credibility, presumably to Americans who know only one company – but if anyone who has ever sung a (presumably) solo role at the MET is a “MET singer,” that’s an awful lot of people.
Someone who has sung at the Met I would say, as a fellow singer, has achieved quite a lot in their careers. Many fine singers don’t have that opportunity so I don’t have a problem with that myself. But as for Korea Opera, you’d need to be paid very well to take it on and cope with the politisation of opera – not a piece of cake, and hardly mainstream, but perhaps in years to come. So many singers now coming from that side of the world, and young audiences too, unlike here in Britain.