Biography
The Korean baritone Hansung Yoo combines two powerful-skills as an opera singer: singing and acting. Impresses as an actor. He is known for his warm baritone voice, radiating and resonating powerfully on stage. His performance as a dramatic baritone has been described as mesmerising and compelling. He has mastered both voice control and acting skills, bringing creativity and conviction to the roles he plays. ,
From 2013 to 2022, Hansung Yoo was a permanent member of the ensemble at the Staatstheater Kassel, where he appeared in a large number of roles. He has performed as Papageno(The Magic Flute), Dr. Falke (Die Fledermaus), Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Shaunard and Marcello (La Bohème), Mercutio (Roméo et Juliette), Eugene Onegin (Eugen Onegin), Pierrot Fritz (Die tote Stadt), Conte di Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Carlo Gerard(Andrea Chénier), Alfio(Cavalleria rusticana), Tonio (I Pagliacci), Kurwenal (Tristan and Isolde), Gunther (Götterdämmerung) and Scarpia (Tosca).
While at Kassel, he also sang harpless in "Madama Butterfly" at the Staatstheater Nürnberg. At the Theater Koblenz he was Amfortas in "Parsifal".and in "Il Trovatore" he played Count Luna. He performed in the title role of "Rigoletto" sang at the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress in Koblenz. And, n the 2021/22 season he made his house debut as Tonio in "I Pagliacci" at the Israeli Opera Tel-Aviv.
Tonio (I Pagliacci) Photo : N. Klinger
In order to advance his career internationally, Hansung Yoo has been working freelance since the 2022/23 season.
He recently made his acclaimed debut at the Deutsche OperBerlin as Kurwenal in "In the current season he is getting excellent reviews in two productions: Don Carlo di Vargas in "La forza del destino", at the Saarbrücken State Theater. and his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, where he takes the stage as Ping in "Turandot", conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano. (See reviews below)
Born and raised in South Korea in 1985, Hansung Yoo first studied singing at the Korea National University of Arts with Prof. Hans Choi and then at the Robert Schumann Music Academy with Prof. Michaela Krämer. He completed his singing studies with a master's degree and the ‘concert exam’in opera at the University of Music and Theater in Hamburg.
Hansung’s achievements include many singing prises. For example, in 2008 he won first prize and five special prizes at the IVC competition in -Hertogenbosch, in 2012 he was the winner of the Cologne International Music Competition and a prizewinner at the 61st ARD International Music Competition. In 2015 he was awarded third prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
Hansung Yoo has worked with conductors such as Daniele Callegari, Francesco Angelico, Patrik Ringborg, Constantin Trinks, Antony Hermus, Yoel Gamzou, Sir Donald Runnicles and Sir Antonio Pappano. They and other colleagues, have praised his performing abilities but also his energetic and collegiate personality.