44 Days of the Daegu Int'l Opera Festival

This letter is for global theatre officials and audiences

2025. 11. 13.

To All of Our Global Friends 🌍

Warm greetings from Daegu Opera House

22nd Daegu International Opera Festival, themed Per Sempre (Forever), ran from September 26 to November 8 and concluded with great success. Featuring the world's beloved operas, the festival strengthened its status as a global hub for opera and artistic innovation.

1️⃣ Il Trovatore

Powerful Opening with Verdi’s Music

The 22nd Daegu International Opera Festival opened with Il Trovatore, presented by Daegu Opera House. The performance received high praise for its powerful music, impressive staging, and passionate performances. Ten. Hovhannes Ayvazyan as Manrico, Sop. Myungjoo Lee as Leonora, and M.Sop. Sanja Anastasia as Azucena captivated the audience with their vocal brilliance and emotional depth.

📹 Behind Video

2️⃣ Carmen

Sold Out Syndrome : Yeongnam Opera’s Carmen

Carmen by Yeongnam Opera, opened on October 16 to a sold-out audience. This Collaboration between Daegu Opera House & Yeongnam Opera brought a virant energy to the local arts scene.

Directed by Cataldo Russo, it offered a modern take on Bizet’s classic with the voice by Alessandra Volpe.

3️⃣ Le nozze di Figaro

Global Young Artists Captivating the World!

Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro was performed by talented young artists under 35 from around the world.
Through the audition held in May, 17 singers from 7 countries were selected for the cast.

In celebration of World Opera Day, it was streamed live worldwide via OperaVision, and will remain available for streaming until December 24. This project provides a platform for emerging artists to shine on the global stage, led by Daegu Opera House.

Daegu Opera House stands as the world opera hub

2025 Young Artist Casting Audition Ceremony

Key opera representatives attended all performances and participated in the judging of the young artist casting auditions. As a result, 11 emerging singers were cast by Peter Paul Kainrath (WFIMC), Barbara Mighetti (Teatro Sociale di Como Aslico), Marcello Corvino (Comunale di Ferrara), Kertu Orro (Saaremaa Opera Festival), Audrey Jungers (Opera Europa), Giorgio Lazzarini (Teatro del Giglio Puccini), Jeong Ae Ree (New Opera Singapore), and Michael Kim (Western University).

Daegu Global Opera Market

By launching the Global Opera Market, the festival became a hub for the opera industry, aiming to build a B2B ecosystem and support emerging artists. The event was attended by 133 participants, including key representatives from 8 international and 33 Korean opera organizations. It featured forums on young artist development, repertoire pitching, and 1:1 “speed dating” meetings. Designated by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, this initiative will be held annually.

4️⃣ The Beauty

Painting reimagined as Opera Concertante

The Beauty is the second creative opera by Daegu Opera House, following 264, That One Star. Performed in concertante, it filled nearly all four tiers of the auditorium. Praised for its fusion of visual art and opera, the project highlighted a region-based production system and a new creative network. It is set to receive its full opera premiere in the near future.

5️⃣ The Heart of the East, One Stage

Connecting East Asia: Korea, China, Japan

To celebrate the 25–26 Year of Korea–Japan–China Intercultural Exchange, Daegu Opera House presented a gala concert in collaboration with The Fujiwara Opera (Japan) and the National Centre for the Performing Arts (China). The performance showcased cultural harmony and demonstrated how art can transcend borders.

6️⃣ Orfeo ed Euridice

Acclaimed in Europe, Encore in Daegu

Gluck’s masterpiece on love and redemption concluded the festival with a stunning aquatic stage. Following its standing-ovation debut at the 2025 Saaremaa Opera Festival, the Daegu performance showed even greater artistic maturity, earning praise as a “moving finale with perfect harmony of music and direction.”