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 Dušica BijelićSusanna BranchiniScilla CristianoElena KelessidiDimitra KotidouLucie KaňkováHye-Youn LeeJulie Martin du TheilEkaterina SadovnikovaAnna StylianakiLetitia VitelaruElena Zelenskaya Karina KheruntsNefeli KotseliLarisa KostyukClaudia MarchiVictoria Yarovaya Martina Mikelic Arnold BezuyenLuciano BotelhoLuis GomesDimitris PaksoglouAngelos Samartzis Marcin BronikowskiMichel de SouzaAnooshah GolesorkhiGyula NagyDimitri Platanias Tiziano BracciDavide Damiani Luiz-Ottavio FariaJihoon Kim |
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 Born in South Korea, she studied first in Berlin with Renate Krahmer and Julia Varady before joining Les Jeunes Voix du Rhin at L’Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg. She went on to L’Atelier Lyrique at L’Opéra National de Paris before deciding to transfer to the UK where she made her successful London debut as Marie La Fille du Régiment for Opera Holland Park. She was named Face to Watch in Classical Music 2013 and now appears with principal companies in the UK and abroad, both in opera and concert. She enjoyed considerable success as soprano soloist in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem for the Three Choirs Festival 2019 under Edward Gardner. Recent appearances include Madame Mao Nixon in China for Scottish Opera, Musetta La Boheme for Grange Park, Donna Anna Don Giovanni for Scottish Opera and she returned there for the Verdi Collection, a Gala of Verdi extracts and to sing Micaëla Carmen. The title role of Strauss’s Daphne for Scottish Opera, a new repertory for her, proved an absolute triumph with outstanding critical acclaim. In concert, Hye-Youn sang soprano solo Verdi Messa da Requiem at the Auditorio Nacional de Música Madrid and at the Sage Gateshead with the Royal Northern Sinfonia. She returned to the Auditorio Nacional de Música Madrid for Händel’s Messiah and Beethoven Symphony No. 9. The Times - Simon Thompson - 6th September 2023 Hye-Youn Lee has an ideal voice for Daphne, a flexible gorgeous soprano that captures both Daphne’s innocence and desperate naivety. Roles:
Beethoven: MISSA SOLEMNIS; Beethoven SYMPHONY NO.9; Brahms EIN DEUTSCHES REQUIEM; Coleridge Taylor: THE SONG OF HIAWATHA; ELGAR: The Apostles; Fauré: REQUIEM; Händel MESSIAH; Mahler SYMPHONY No. 8; Mozart MISSA SOLEMNIS; Mozart MASS IN C MINOR; Mozart REQUIEM; Rossini STABAT MATER; Strauss: VIER LETZTE LIEDER; Verdi: MESSA DA REQUIEM. Conductors with whom she has worked include: Rinaldo Alessandrini; Renato Balsadonna; Stephen Barlow; Giuliano Carella; Joana Carneiro; Nicholas Chalmers; Edward Gardner; Marco Guidarini; Christian Järvi; Kimbo Ishii; Kirill Karabits; Nicholas Kraemer; Domenico Longo; Gianluca Marcianò; Adrian Partington; John Rigby; Pietro Rizzo; Stuart Stratford. Reviews: • DAPHNE: Title role – Scottish Opera The Times - Simon Thompson – 6th September 2023 Hye-Youn Lee has an ideal voice for Daphne, a flexible gorgeous soprano that captures both Daphne’s innocence and desperate naivety. Telegraph – Mark Brown – 6th September 2023 Daphne herself (who is sung splendidly by the South Korean soprano Hye-Youn Lee) is represented as the young anti-nazi martyr, Sophie Scholl…Lee’s Daphne is a tour de force, rendering the role with a compelling emotional energy, especially in her final mournful aria. The Guardian – Keith Bruce – 6th September 2023 Scottish Opera’s recent casting skill was very much in evidence with company favourites South Korean soprano Hye-Youn Lee superb in the title role. The Scotsman - Ken Walton - 8th September Hye-Youn Lee was utterly magnificent as Daphne, a fervent blend of soulfulness and virtuosic precision. The Reviews Hub – Lauren Humphries 8th September 2023 South Korean soprano Lee is a beautifully toned and powered Daphne The QR.co.uk – W J Quinn – 9th September 2023 Accordingly, Hye-Youn Lee dazzles again, last seen by the QR, in SO’s splendid 2022 ‘Don Giovanni’. Retaining the same power, and clarity, she displays complete comfort in the star role, and a joy in the soaring demands of the role. ‘Demands’ is correct, the role keeping the chosen soprano in action for a punishing portion of the 100 minute run-time – but Hye-Youn Lee is more than up to the challenge…..Her [Hye-Youn Lee’s] final, wordless aria sailing out into the ancient stones, is the surpassingly pretty stuff from which memories are made…… The finale, in which Daphne achieves her dream is also handled particularly well, eschewing costumed transformation for Hye-Youn Lee, in favour of an evocative walk amidst a sea of roses. Her final, wordless aria sailing out into the ancient stones, is the surpassingly pretty stuff from which memories are made. Seen and Heard International - Gregor Tassie – 9th September 2023 The singing by the young Korean soprano Hye-Youn Lee was delicious and her portrayal of the challenging role of Daphne was tremendous; her extended opening aria was magnificent, as was her heart-breaking singing over the corpse of her lover. The OperaCritic.com by Catriona Graham – 5th September 2023 Meanwhile, Daphne is turned into a tree, and Lee’s singing is ecstatic. She really does conjure up the scene with her voice alone. * * *
• CARMEN: Title role – Scottish OperaThe Telegraph - Mark Brown – 13th May 2023 When José’s childhood sweetheart Micaëla (played by the outstanding South Korean soprano Hye-Youn Lee) arrives in Seville, for example, she is subjected to a display of predictably toxic masculinity by her erstwhile lover’s army comrades……However on opening night, it was Lee’s stunning emotive rendering of Micaëla’s aria that had the audience in raptures. The Scotsman – Ken Walton – 15th May 2023 Outstanding moments spring out of the blue, such as Hye-Youn Lee’s heartstopping Act 3 aria as Micaëla. Bachtrack - David Smythe - 17th May 2023 Giving a fine performance as the maligned Micaëla, Hye-Youn Lee thrilled in her Act 3 aria as she tried to persuade the wayward, love-struck José to return home. The Herald - Keith Bruce – 14th May 2023 Singing Jose’s jilted sweetheart Micaela can sometimes seem the thankless role in Carmen – although Hye-Youn Lee gives one of the best vocal performances in this cast… The Guardian - David Lee – 15th May 2023 ..while Hye-Youn Lee is a suitably chaste Micaëla, albeit in a role that offers scant opportunity to demonstrate her full vocal prowess. The Stage - Thom Dibdin – 15th May 2023 Hye-Youn Lee’s rounded and heartfelt Micaëla is all the more brave in her early confrontation with José’s regiment – and on José’s entitlement, as he attempts to shift the blame for his actions on to his victim. * * *
• MADAMA BUTTERFLY: title role – Islenska OperanOpera Magazine - Amanda Holloway - May 2023 The main role was in the hands of Hye-Youn Lee, who has played the role of Cio-Cio San, also called Madama Butterfly, many times. It was easy to find, because her performance was magnificent in the extremely demanding role. She actually sang the whole time! The voice was lyrical, silky and powerful all at the same time the emotion in the song deep and authentic. I thought I heard many gasps in the hall during the bloody finale. * * *
• LA BOHEME: Musetta – Grange Park OperaOpera Magazine – Alexandra Coghlan – August 2021 Gold to the steely platinum of Hye-Youn Lee’s Musetta, who flings out top notes with disdainful precision. * * *
• NIXON IN CHINA: Madame Mao – Scottish Opera – 2020British Theatre Guide – Graham Strachan – February 2020 …contrasted by the solid ferocity and steely confidence of Hye-Youn Lee as Chiang Ch'ing. It's Lee who overall ends up as the standout, carrying this sentiment through to the final moments of the opera and arguably having some of the best material to work with. The Times – Neil Fisher – 19th February 2020 …ceding alpha status to the virile coloratura frenzy of Hye-Youn Lee as his doctrinaire wife. The Herald, (Glasgow) {Life} - Mark Brown - 23rd February 2020 There are outstanding performances by all of the leads. The glorious South Korean soprano Hye-Youn Lee is as powerful in her (often humorous) portrayal of Madame Mao as she is in her singing of the role.. The Guardian - Rowena Smith – 19th February 2020 In contrast, there is nothing vulnerable about Hye-Youn Lee’s Madame Mao, whose stratospheric entrance aria is the show-stealing moment of the night. Sunday Times – Hugh Canning - 23rd February 2020-02-26 His wife, Chiang Ch’ing, an authoritarian martinet, proclaims her “cultural” manifesto in the imperious high-soprano register of Mozart’s Queen of the Night – yet like that model, she is capable of eliciting sympathy. Her nostalgic recollections of her romantic involvement in Mao’s political struggle recall Desdemona in the love duet from Verdi’s Otello……while Hye-Youn Lee’s formidably accurate Madame Mao, with her hatchet demeanour, is her finest performance in the UK so far. The Weblog of Kelvin Holdsworth - Kelvin – 21st February 2020 The arrival of Hye-Youn Lee as Madame Mao in the second act was brilliantly exciting. The role demands an agile coloratura soprano and Hye-Youn Lee did not disappoint. The Skinny – Eliza Gearty - 20th February 2020 Act Two sees Sporsén's Pat Nixon moved and confused by a revolutionary ballet composed by Madame Mao – played impeccably and with dangerous charisma by Hye-Youn Lee – that this production executes extraordinarily well. The Telegraph – Rupert Christiansen – 19th February 2020 …and Hye-Youn Lee was mistress of Madame Mao’s colorature hysterics. ArtMag - David White –21st February 2020 Many of the leading performers are making their return to Scottish Opera, and the performances on the opening night were world-class –….and Hye-Youn Lee as Chiang Ch’ing, Madame Mao. OperaScotland.org The terrifying Madame Mao, soon to become one of the hated (by the Chinese) 'Gang of Four' was cheered to the rafters. This was largely because of the highly effective performance of her role by Hye-Youn Lee - more recognised in Britain for her performances of Haydn, Mozart, Donizetti and Puccini. The Observer - Fiona Maddox - 22nd February 2020 Each of the chief characters …. is presented sympathetically, with the exception of prickly Madame Mao (Hye-Youn Lee, properly scary in her screeching, showpiece coloratura aria). The Scotsman - Ken Walton – 21st February 2020 ….finds an unexpected warmth in Mao, contrary to the fearsomely dogmatic coloratura of Hye-Youn Lee’s Madame Mao. The Stage - George Hall -19th February 2020 Of a wonderful three-part evening, it is the second act, which revolves around …… and Madame Mao (Hye-Youn Lee), that is the absolute sensation of the night as a theatrical experience. Bachtrack – David Smythe – 24th February 2020 Hye-Youn Lee was terrifying as Chaing Ch’ing, her stratospheric singing giving her character a cruel edge, a spectacular tour de force. The artsdesk.com – Christopher Lambton – 29th February 2020 …was eclipsed by the supercharged appearance of Hye-Youn Lee as Madame Mao, delivering the Party message in a succession of dizzyingly high notes. Seen and Heard International - Simon Thompson – 1st March 2020 Hye-Youn Lee chewed up the scenery as Madame Mao, and her blistering top notes could have stripped paint. * * *
• VERDI MESSA DA REQUIEM – Three Choirs FestivalSeen and Heard International – John Quinn - 29th July 2019 Among the solo quartet, the ladies did particularly well. Hye-Youn Lee has appeared at previous Three Choirs Festivals: she sang in Mahler’s Eighth Symphony at the close of the 2016 Festival (review) and three years earlier she sang in Coleridge-Taylor’s Hiawatha (review); on both occasions her singing was ear-catching. So it was tonight. In particular, I loved the silvery tone on which she floated ‘Sed signifer’ in the Offertorio. We heard the best of her in the ‘Libera me’. At the start, she and Gardner invested the music with great urgency, the words almost tumbling over each other in the senza misura opening. She sang the ‘Tremens factus’ episode with well -controlled intensity and later soared above the unaccompanied chorus beautifully until she reached the goal of top B flat. Midlands Classical Music Making - Christopher Morley – 29th July 2019 Lee's climactic "Libera Me" was a tour de force of controlled yet gripping delivery. --> Download (Pdf)         |
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APA Artists' Management / Alexandra Mercer T. +44 (0)771 037 8719 - Skype: apa_artists - www.apaartistsmanagement.com |