[News Culture] Seoul Arts Center is giving its August mornings two distinct musical personalities: one powered by three tenor voices, the other built around orchestral color and commentary designed to bring the repertoire closer to the audience.
The programs will be presented at the Concert Hall on Aug. 13 and 28, both beginning at 11 a.m.
The Aug. 13 edition of the “SAC 11AM Concert” is one of the series’ twice-yearly vocal gala programs. Tenors Kyung-Ho Kim, Hyo-Jong Kim and Beom-Joo Lee will join the Prime Philharmonic Orchestra under conductor Woong Cha for a morning that moves freely between opera, Neapolitan song and Korean folk music.
Mascagni’s Intermezzo from “Cavalleria rusticana” opens the concert before each singer steps forward with repertoire tailored to his own vocal character.
Kim Kyung-Ho will perform Puccini’s “Recondita armonia” from “Tosca” and Agustín Lara’s “Granada.” Kim Hyo-Jong turns to Gounod’s “Ah! lève-toi, soleil!” from “Roméo et Juliette” and the Italian favorite “Torna a Surriento,” while Lee Beom-Joo sings Mascagni’s “Mamma, quel vino è generoso” and Cardillo’s “Core ’ngrato.”
The three voices come together in the concert’s centerpiece. After Lehár’s sweeping “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz,” they will perform composer Kim Sung-Tae’s concert arrangement of “Bakyeon Falls,” a Gyeonggi folk song known for its buoyant rhythm and earthy melodic appeal.
Recast for classically trained voices, the folk melody takes on a broader theatrical scale without losing its distinctly Korean pulse. The result promises less a conventional crossover number than a meeting of two vocal traditions, with the tenors’ harmonies adding weight and dramatic lift to the song.
The gala closes with Ernesto De Curtis’ “Non ti scordar di me” and “Nessun dorma” from Puccini’s “Turandot,” bringing the morning to a suitably expansive finish. The official program also includes orchestral selections by Rossini and Mendelssohn.
The mood shifts on Aug. 28 with “Classics with Heart,” led by conductor Jin Sol and the KT Symphony Orchestra. Pianist and concert guide Yong-Bae Kim will provide commentary throughout the performance, framing works from the Classical and French Romantic traditions without interrupting the music’s natural momentum.
Rossini’s overture to “La scala di seta” opens the program with crisp rhythms and quicksilver orchestral writing.
Flutist Sung-hyun Cho then joins the orchestra for Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major, K. 313. Its clean lines and transparent textures place the soloist’s phrasing and tonal control at the center of the performance.
Pianist Sun Ho Lee follows with Fauré’s “Ballade for Piano and Orchestra,” a work that favors long-breathed lyricism and subtle shifts of color over overt virtuoso display.
Bizet’s Symphony No. 1 in C major closes the concert. Written while the composer was still a teenager, the symphony combines youthful momentum with remarkably assured orchestration, giving the August series a bright and energetic final chapter.
Across the two matinees, Seoul Arts Center offers more than a survey of familiar favorites. One morning transforms a Korean folk melody into grand vocal theatre; the other lets instrumental color and guided listening lead the way through nearly a century of European orchestral music.
Reported by News Culture M.J._mj94070777@nc.press
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