Bass
Biography
Korean bass Jihoon Kim studied at the Seoul National University and the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, where he graduated in 2 years with top grades and summa cum laude. He joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in 2011, becoming a Jette Parker Principal in Season 2013/14 and a Principal of The Royal Opera in Season 2014/15. He has appeared in over 200 performances and has had considerable success in many International Competitions.
This introduced the singer, who was for me the star of the evening, the South Korean bass Jihoon Kim, again a former Covent Garden Young Artist who is now becoming a star across the world. His voice is sensational, deep dark and powerful; it doesn’t seem possible that such power can come from such a slight frame…but my favourite of the evening was his solo performance of “ella giammai m’amo” (she doesn’t love me). This was one of my father’s favourite arias. I remember taking him to the farewell concert of the great Bulgarian bass Boris Christoff, who was then 75 and didn’t sing this quite demanding aria in his concert but sang the first few lines for my father when we went to see him at the stage door! Kim is in my opinion fit to be compared to Christoff and I predict he will become a great star.
Edinburgh Music Review – Hugh Kerr – 18th February 2023
Roles performed
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA: Don Basilio
Israeli Opera
Opera Holland Park
LA BOHEME: Colline
ROH Covent Garden
Welsh National Opera
DON CARLO: Monk
Grange Park Opera
DON CARLO: Flemish Deputy
ROH Covent Garden
ERNANI: Silva
Queen Elizabeth Hall London
LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST: Ashby
Grange Park Opera
LE ROI DE LAHORE: Timour
Queen Elizabeth Hall London
SAMSON ET DALILA: Old Hebrew
Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia Valencia
SIMON BOCCANEGRA: Pietro
ROH Covent Garden
Israeli Opera
LA TRAVIATA: Il Dottore
ROH Covent Garden
IL TROVATORE: Ferrando
Cadogan Hall
TOSCA: Angelotti
Grange Park Opera
TURANDOT: Timur
Cambridge Philharmonic Orchestra
VERDI COLLECTION
Scottish Opera at Inverness
Aberdeen
Glasgow & Edinburgh
DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE: Sarastro
Longborough Festival Opera
Welsh National Opera
Videos
Audio
Outstanding concerts include
Beethoven SYMPHONY NO. 9 London Philharmonic Orchestra & Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra; Haydn NELSON MASS Hallé Orchestra; Mozart REQUIEM MASS Il Duomo di Milano; Rossini PETITE MESSE SOLONELLE Accademia di Santa Cecilia at the Vatican; Verdi MESSA DA REQUIEM in France, Italy and Spain
Conductors and Directors he has worked with
Maurizio Benini, Mark Elder, Dan Ettinger, John Eliot Gardiner, Daniel Oren, Antonio Pappano, Donato Renzetti, Daniele Rustioni, Stuart Stratford.
John Copley, Stefan Herheim, Kasper Holten, David McVicar, Elijah Moshinsky, Laurent Pelly, David Pountney.
Photos
