Classical musical talents from Korea livened up the Manila production of Giacommo Puccini’s famous opera, “Tosca,” at the Cultural Center of the Philippines over the weekend (Oct. 2 and 4).
Playing the title role of the celebrated singer Florina Tosca was Korean soprano Yae-Jin Han, with tenor Ji-ho Kim as Mario Cavaradossi, her lover, and baritone Daesan No as the evil Baron Scarpia, Tosca’s nemesis.
Filipinos in the cast were tenor Lemuel de la Cruz and baritone Noel Azcona.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) performed under the baton of Korean conductor Jae-Joon Lee, along with Coro Tomasino under Ronan Ferrer and Hail Mary the Queen’s Children’s Choir under Maria Teresa Roldan.
Floy Quintos was stage director.
CCP president Raul Sunico, who produced the production, joined the cast during the curtain call Sunday night.
Since Sunico became president, presenting a major opera has been an annual project of CCP. Recent productions and co-productions through the years were “Barber of Seville,” “La Traviata,” “Rigoletto,” “Eugene Onegin,” “Die Fledermaus” and “La Boheme.”
Follow the author on Twitter @litozulueta