Breathe Hera Hyesang Park, Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice & Jochen Rieder

• Luke Howard (b. 1978): While You Live:
• 1Howard: While You Live04:07
• Henryk Górecki (1933 - 2010): Symphony No. 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs":
• 2Górecki: Symphony No. 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs": IIa. Lento e Largo – Tranquillissimo "Mamo, nie płacz, nie"04:33
• 3Górecki: Symphony No. 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs": IIb. Lento e Largo – Tranquillissimo "Mamo, Mamo, Mamo, Niebios Przeczysta Królowo"03:32
• Carl Orff (1895 - 1982): Carmina Burana:
• 4Orff: Carmina Burana: In trutina02:17
• Engelbert Humperdinck (1854 - 1921): Hänsel und Gretel:
• 5Humperdinck: Hänsel und Gretel: Abends will ich schlafen gehn02:46
• Cecilia Livingston (b. 1984): Breath Alone: Paula Modersohn-Becker (Version for 2 Sopranos and Chamber Orchestra):
• 6Livingston: Breath Alone: Paula Modersohn-Becker (Version for 2 Sopranos and Chamber Orchestra)07:14
• Gioachino Rossini (1792 - 1868): Otello:
• 7Rossini: Otello: Affettuoso01:22
• 8Rossini: Otello: Assisa a’ piè d’un salice03:39
• 9Rossini: Otello: Oh Dio! Qual mal strepito è questo!02:47
• 10Rossini: Otello: Deh calma, o ciel, nel sonno02:07
• Bernat Vivancos (b. 1973): Vocal Ice:
• 11Vivancos: Vocal Ice: I. Doux, austère01:48
• 12Vivancos: Vocal Ice: II. Calme, tendre05:52
• Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901): Otello:
• 13Verdi: Otello: Ave Maria, piena di grazia04:42
• Hyo-Won Woo (b. 1974): Requiem aeternam (Eoi Gari):
• 14Woo: Requiem aeternam (Eoi Gari)02:41
• Jules Massenet (1842 - 1912): Le Cid:
• 15Massenet: Le Cid: Plus de tourments et plus de peine01:56
• 16Massenet: Le Cid: Allez en paix, vous que l’on aime01:46
• Ave Maria sur la Méditation de Thaïs:
• 17Massenet: Ave Maria sur la Méditation de Thaïs: Andante religioso "Ave Maria, gratia plena" (Arr. Spindler for Soprano, Choir and Orchestra)02:34
• 18Massenet: Ave Maria sur la Méditation de Thaïs: A tempo "Ave Maria, gratia plena" (Arr. Spindler for Soprano, Choir, Violin Solo and Orchestra)02:28
• Licinio Refice (1883 - 1954): Cecilia:
• 19Refice: Cecilia: Molto vivo e con fuoco02:25
• 20Refice: Cecilia: Grazie, sorelle!02:09
• 21Refice: Cecilia: Padre! Ho pregato04:57
• Léo Delibes (1836 - 1891): Lakmé / Flower Duet:
• 22Delibes: Lakmé / Flower Duet: Viens, Mallika, les lianes en fleurs01:07
• 23Delibes: Lakmé / Flower Duet: Dôme épais le jasmin ... Sous le dôme épais04:30
• Gioachino Rossini: L'assedio di Corinto / Giusto ciel:
• 24Rossini: L'assedio di Corinto / Giusto ciel: L'ora fatal s’apressa02:39
• 25Rossini: L'assedio di Corinto / Giusto ciel: Giusto ciel, in tal periglio03:26
• Total Runtime01:19:24

Info for Breathe

Heras second album for Deutsche Grammophon is the deeply personal result of an existential confrontation of Hera's with the foundation of her being, resulting in her determination to embrace life: "As I contemplated death, I found my soul infused with the magnificence of life. A profound sense of gratitude began to fill my soul." Presenting operatic favourites by Massenet ("Meditation"), Delibes ("Flower Duet" w/ Emily D'Angelo), Humperdinck ("Abends wenn ich schlafen geh") side by side with contemporary works by Luke Howard, Cecilia Livingston, Hyowon Woo and Bernat Vivancos. A spectacular under water shot music video for "While you live" will accompany the album release.

Hera Hyesang Park, soprano
Emily D’Angelo, mezzo-soprano (5, 9, 22, 23, 25)
Giovanni Battista Fabris, violin solo (1, 18)
Federico Romano, cello solo (19)
Coro del Teatro Carlo Felice (15–18, 25)
Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice (1–13, 15–25)
Claudio Marino Moretti, chorus master
Jochen Rieder, conductor

Hera Hyesang Park
While Hera Hyesang Park has won rave reviews for her fine singing and stagecraft, there is much more to her artistry. The South Korean soprano’s cosmopolitan mindset and determination to challenge racism, discrimination and stereotypes of all kinds are also essential elements in her approach to making music. Performing and recording are, for her, both acts of self-discovery and heartfelt, emotionally honest ways to connect with others. With its immaculate technique and apparently infinite variety of tone colours, her lyric coloratura voice reflects the fearless nature of the Park performance style – always daring, never dull.

Hera Hyesang Park’s rising-star status is supported by a series of critically acclaimed performances everywhere from the Metropolitan Opera to the Glyndebourne Festival. In 2019 she won plaudits for her house debut as Musetta in Barrie Kosky’s new production of La bohème at the Komische Oper Berlin. Later in the year, her run as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Glyndebourne Festival was described by The Times (London) as “phenomenal”, while Classical Source commended her for discovering an “element of vulnerability and pathos that adds flesh and blood to the character”.

The free-spirited soprano signed an exclusive agreement with Deutsche Grammophon in May 2020. She marked the occasion with a virtual recital for the Yellow Label’s “Moment Musical” series, streamed from Berlin’s Meistersaal. Recorded with the Wiener Symphoniker and Bertrand de Billy, Park’s DG debut album is built from songs and arias dear to her heart. I am Hera, which was released digitally in November 2020 and had its physical release in January 2021, includes music by Bellini, Gluck, Handel, Mozart, Pergolesi, Puccini and Rossini. It also embraces works by Korean composers Joowon Kim and Un-Yung La, including the latter’s uplifting setting of Psalm 23.

“Instead of making myself perform a list of songs that might impress others, I decided to take a chance on myself and perform songs that resonate with my core values,” Park told OperaWire in May 2020. “I feel my purpose is to make the world a little better by living a healthy life and knowing that the talent I have been given is in essence meant to bring more light to the world.”

Park’s personality and her evolution as a singer have been shaped by her Korean roots and by her experience of life in the West. She describes herself as “traditional but uncommon”, always ready to learn from classical and modern attitudes to life and art.

In September 2020 Park sang the role of Violetta Valéry in the world premiere of the 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, Marina Abramović’s pioneering opera project for the Bayerische Staatsoper, a role which she reprised at the Opera de Paris in September 2021. Other recent highlights include her role debut as Pamina in the Met’s production of The Magic Flute, Despina Cosi fan tutte and Susanna le Nozze di Figaro at Glyndebourne Festival and Adina in Donizetti’s L’Elisir D’Amore at Berlin Staatsoper (which she revisits in the Staatsoper’s opening production of the 2022/23 season).

Hera Hyesang Park’s gift for performing, recognised and encouraged at an early age, led to studies at the Seoul National University and at New York’s renowned Juilliard School of Music. She made her international breakthrough in 2015 when she was among the prize winners at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition, going on to win first prize at the Gerda Lissner Foundation International Competition in 2016 and the coveted Hildegard Behrens Foundation Award in 2018. Her flair for fashion subsequently caught the eye of Vogue editor-in-chief Dame Anna Wintour, who chose the Giambattista Valli gown that Park wore to New York’s Met Gala in 2018.

After completing her two-year Artist Diploma in Opera Studies at the Juilliard School in 2015, Park became a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. She made her house debut at the Met in 2017 as the First Wood Sprite in Rusalka and made a successful return in 2019 as Amore in Mark Morris’s staging of Orfeo ed Euridice. Other career highlights include her Bayerische Staatsoper house debut as Despina; Aldimira in Rossini’s Sigismondo with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester; Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche; and concerts with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and for Los Angeles Opera.

“…her singing as Rossini’s determinedly provocative heroine Rosina is indeed phenomenal, especially as she started out to some eyes — well, my eyes — only acting like an alluring spitfire rather than actually being one.” Geoff Brown, The Times

Booklet for Breathe