Kim Debuts at Royal Opera • November 2024
London, United Kingdom
In her much-anticipated debut with Royal Opera House, conductor Eun Sun Kim leads Jonathan Kent’s ‘handsome period staging’ (Guardian) of Puccini’s Tosca. Natalya Romaniw and Chiara Isotton share the title role alongside SeokJong Baek as Cavaradossi and Bryn Terfel as Scarpia. Kim was profiled by the Financial Times prior to her debut and covered her re-signing with San Francisco Opera, future projects, and her artistic journey.
Read the profile in Financial Times >
Photo by Aaron Wojack / Financial Times
Photo by Clive Barda / Royal Opera House
Critical Acclaim
“Kim’s is a slow-burn approach. Puccini flicks to the back-page and his lovers’ brutal end in those first ominous, belching chords, but Kim pulls back the curtain slowly, letting a spacious Act I gather gradual momentum as lovers’ squabbles give way to a manhunt and a murderous trap. There’s a lovely vertical clarity through her orchestra, woodwind details crisp even in densest textures.”
–iNews
"Cleaving closely to her singers, Kim makes an understated but effective house debut, finding space in the music as well as filmic pace. But she clearly knows that sometimes you just have to let the stars shine.”
–The Times
“Making her house debut, Kim conducted a lively performance, the brass presaging Scarpia’s menace with their opening chords, strings honeyed in the love duet. Cello and clarinet solos ahead of ‘E lucevan le stelle’ were well shaped and Kim’s pacing pushed the narrative along urgently to make this a more distinguished Tosca revival than many in recent years.”
–Bachtrack
“Kim gets unusual clarity from Puccini’s orchestra and keeps the drama on the boil in an auspicious Royal Opera debut.”
–Financial Times
“Kim is making her debut in this role, commanding the Royal Opera orchestra. With his passion for dramatic and exciting orchestration, Puccini can easily overwhelm the singers with his enthusiastic scores, and it takes a knowledgeable and deft baton to keep a good balance. She succeeded in maintaining that balance.”
–OperaWire
"Kim’s interpretation remained balanced without sacrificing the power of the score, her delicacy and attention to detail defined quiet touching moments. All of the score felt clearly enunciated and never failed to shock with little space for shabbiness."
–London Unattached
“Kim, making an impressive Covent Garden debut, explores the full range of Puccini's score, from the tender chimes and introspection of a few strings to the armoured assault vehicle of the full orchestra in the most violent passages.”
–Culture Whisper
“Commanding the musical forces is Kim, whose ability to balance the substantial forces in front of her while maintaining the score’s dramatic momentum mark her debut with the company as auspicious.”
–The Stage
“Responding to the shifting textures and detailed orchestral effects, with its echoes of the outside world in funeral drums and shepherds’ songs, Kim drew strong colours from the fine orchestra.”
–The Telegraph
"Kim made a fine Covent Garden debut in the pit. Her delicate handling of the accompaniment to Romaniw’s pious ‘Vissi d’arte’ was unusually skillful, and she helped the secondary characters to be clearly heard, which doesn’t always happen either. By resisting the relentless blood and thunder approach to Puccini’s score, Kim’s work confirmed that subtle conducting is integral to any successful Tosca – which this one is."
–The Guardian