YESEUL KWON
The South Korean coloratura soprano Yeseul Kwon completed her Bachelor of Music with highest honors at Sungshin Women’s University and recently graduated from Musikhochschule Lübeck. She will continue her Master’s studies under the guidance of Manuela Uhl. She has performed roles such as the Königin der Nacht, Angelica in Orlando Paladino, and Musetta in La Bohème. She is a prizewinner of multiple national competitions and a recipient of the Deutschlandstipendium.
PROGRAM
First Round
Gaetano Donizetti — Don Pasquale — “Quel guardo, il cavaliere”
Maurice Ravel — L’enfant et les sortilèges — “Arrière! Je réchauffe les bons”
Semifinal
Ambroise Thomas — Hamlet — “À vos jeux, mes amis… (Ophélie’s Mad Scene)”
Final with orchestra
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The first round highlights Norina’s aria, “Quel guardo, il cavaliere,” from Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, a piece that reveals the character’s lively cunning. This is followed by the complex aria of Le Feu, “Arrière! Je réchauffe les bons,” from Ravel’s opera L’enfant et les sortilèges, where the character expresses its dual nature with powerful energy. The semifinal focuses on a single, major scene: Ophelia’s mad scene from Thomas’s Hamlet. This scene, “À vos jeux, mes amis,” is a dramatic masterpiece of great virtuosity, in which the character succumbs to a psychological breakdown, combining poignant lyricism with agile vocal passages.