Kangmin Justin Kim Transports Us Through Time and Culture with M. Butterfly

Kangmin Justin Kim Transports Us Through Time and Culture with M. Butterfly

Author: The Santa Fe Opera July 30, 2022 Duration: 48:45

Bad romances don't come much better than the complicated relationship at the heart of M. Butterfly. Host Jane Trembley talks fantasy versus reality with countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim before his Santa Fe Opera and U.S. mainstage debut as Song Liling in this operatic world premiere.

The pair also discuss the psychology behind Justin's character, transitioning from musical theater to opera, and building representation in the classical music community.

"There are a lot of dichotomies in this piece," Justin says of the lopsided love affair between French diplomat René Gallimard and Song Liling, the Beijing opera star who exploits Gallimard's self-delusion to secure their own safety. "[There's] lots of East and West, man and woman, truth and lies. It's very yin yang." 

The highly anticipated world premiere, delayed two years by pandemic-related scheduling conflicts, is an inventive operatic reworking by David Henry Hwang of his iconic 1988 Tony Award-winning musical. Composer Huang Ruo's score complements Hwang's libretto perfectly, providing intelligent references to Puccini's Madame Butterfly and an increasingly distorted soundscape against which Gallimard and Liling's relationship reaches its inevitable conclusion.

Revisiting decades-old source material is not without its challenges. "I want people to understand that this is a period piece," says Justin. "M. Butterfly lives in the past, and we need to watch this opera through the lens of the 1960s and the late 1980s when the play was first presented to the world."

He challenges audiences to consider how far we've come in addressing issues connected to sexual orientation, gender identity, and Imperialism––and how far we've yet to go.

FEATURING

Kangmin Justin Kim – Countertenor

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

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La Bien Aimée

CREDITS

Destination Santa Fe Opera is a Santa Fe Opera podcast, produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.

Post-Production Audio: Edwin R. Ruiz

Hosted by: Jane Trembley

Show Notes by: Lisa Widder

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Behind every curtain call at The Santa Fe Opera is a world of craft, history, and human effort. Destination Santa Fe Opera pulls back that curtain, offering a rare backstage pass to the artists, technicians, designers, and visionaries who bring the spectacle to life. This podcast is a series of intimate, revealing conversations that go far beyond the performance notes. You’ll hear from a costume designer about the weight and meaning of a single garment, from a singer unraveling the emotional core of a challenging role, or from a stage director mapping the journey from concept to opening night. It’s about the problem-solving, the collaboration, and the occasional happy accident that defines a season. Each episode connects you to the living, breathing process of opera, focusing on the people whose dedicated work transforms a New Mexico evening into something unforgettable. Listen for stories about musical discovery, artistic risk, and the sheer logistical marvel of mounting world-class productions against a backdrop of southwestern skies. Produced by The Santa Fe Opera, this series is an essential companion for anyone curious about the alchemy that happens when countless disciplines converge to create a single, powerful story in song.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 31

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