The Korea National Opera will start the 2021 season with a series of gala concerts to offer opportunities to local opera singers hit by the COVID-19 pandemic to perform.

Though it has been customary for the state-funded opera troupe to begin the year with full-act operas, the 2021 season will begin with five gala concerts across Korea from March to May, taking into consideration the unstable pandemic situation in different regions of the country.

Also, the gala concerts can support local opera singers, who have lost opportunities to perform last year due to the virus crisis, the KNO said. The singers are to be selected through auditions.

At the concerts, arias from celebrated operas will be performed. Some of the works will be presented as a full-act opera next year, depending on the audiences’ reaction and the quality of the work.

Specific details for the gala concert series have not been set yet, but the concerts will be held in small cities across Korea.

After the gala concert series, new full-act opera shows are to follow, such as the premiere of the original Korean-language opera “Brahms” from May 13-16. Also, Puccini’s “The Girl of the Golden West” will have its Korean premiere July 1-4.

Verdi’s “Nabucco” is set to go on stage from Aug. 12-15, followed by Saint-Saens’ “Samson and Deliah” on Oct. 7-10. The opera company will end the year with another masterpiece by Verdi, “La Traviata” on Dec. 2-5.

The opera troupe is due to launch its own online streaming platform KNOmyOpera this month, allowing audiences to enjoy opera performances at home. This year’s performances will be streamed live on the platform, while recordings of the troupe’s performances from last year will be available as well.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)