honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, February 28, 2003

Toymaker tenor has stepped from sidelines into opera scene

The staging of "La Bohéme" represents Paris' Latin Quarter in the 19th century, where Puccini's tragic love story is set. This is the final production of the Hawai'i Opera Theatre season — there are four performances, beginning tonight at the Blaisdell Concert Hall.

Photos by Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

The opera revolves around the romance between poet Rodolfo (Jay Hunter Morris) and seamstress Mimi (Juliana Rambaldi).

'La Bohéme'

8 p.m. today, 4 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday

Blaisdell Concert Hall

$27-$95

596-7858

Tenor Julius Ahn was in two operas before he actually saw one.

At 31, he's still at the starting gate of launching a bona-fide career in grand opera.

Still, he sings the role of Parpignol in Puccini's "La Bohéme," the last of three Hawai'i Opera Theatre productions, opening tonight at Blaisdell Concert Hall. He also was in the previous two.

"I had a friend, Stelio Scordilis, singing in the Honolulu Symphony Chorus," Ahn said about his entry into the opera world two years ago. "He heard my voice and wanted me to sing a requiem piece he wrote. Subsequently, he dragged me to opera chorus rehearsals for the 'Tales of Hoffmann' at Kawai'ahao Church, just to listen in. He literally went up to (chorus director) Nola Nahulu, and Beebe Freitas, the accompanist, said that I would be singing in the rehearsals. They asked me to sing something, anything. Stelio, from outside the door, yelled 'Sing the 'Star-Spangled Banner!' "

He did. And he was invited to perform in two subsequent productions.

Which proves there's no single way to make an entrance into the world of grand opera.

"I'm a late bloomer, so the feeling's daunting," said Ahn. "While starting so late, I feel this (opera) is in my blood. I can't think of anything else I'd like to do. That is scary."

His parents were musicians in Seoul, South Korea, but "they always kept me away from music; they tried to interest me in something else," he said.

They succeeded, at first.

He was a paralegal, pursuing a law degree. He wanted to attend law school but fell into music.

He now is in his second year as a scholarship recipient of the Mae Z. Orvis Opera Studio at HOT, where he also is an administrative assistant.

"I've always loved music, and I've heard excerpts from opera in movies," said Ahn. "I will recognize some of the ... (arias) right away. And people have said I have a nice singing voice."

He's lived in Seattle, Los Angeles and New York, but settled on Hawai'i "for a change of scenery." He hopes to acquire U.S. naturalization papers here.

He's enjoyed the process of creating the Parpignol role in "Bohéme," the current rage on Broadway, where Baz Luhrmann has mounted a grand spectacle. "Bohéme," also the source for a contemporary retelling in "Rent," which is still running in New York, is the tragic love story of the poet Rodolfo and the seamstress Mimi in Paris' Latin Quarter.

"Parpignol is the party crasher, a toy-seller; none of the other vendors are like him," said Ahn. "Kids love him because of the toys, adults hate him because of his disruptive presence."

Though he studied Spanish in Seattle, Ahn said learning the many tongues of opera phonetically is a reality. "But any time I do an opera, I try to translate each line, as much as I can, to at least know what I'm sing-ing," he said. "Language can be a barrier, but it's a welcome task to learn. The Italian in 'La Bohéme' is exquisite; Italian is my favorite language."