Biography

Kwangchul Youn was born in Chungju/South Korea, where he also finished his first studies of voice. As a student, he won the first price in the Korean National Singing Contest. 

In 1988, he made his debut at the National Opera in Seoul, singing the “de Sirieux” in “Fedora”. He furthermore gave guest performances in several Korean theaters, e.g. singing the Basilio in Rossinis “Il barbiere di Siviglia”, the Loredano in Verdis “I due foscari” and the Dulcamara in Donizettis “L’elisir d’amore”.

He continued his studies of voice in 1990/1991 at the conservatory of Sofia with Prof. Lesa Koleva and from 1991 until 1993 at the Academy of Fine arts in Berlin with Prof. Dr. Herbert Brauer. Meanwhile, he won several awards competing in national and international singing contests – the most important for him being the first price at the “Concours International des Voix d’Opéra Plácido Domingo” in Paris in 1993.

 
 

In 1993/1994 he had an engagement at the Opera of Leipzig in Germany, singing among other roles the parts of Sarasro in “The Magic Flute” and of Komtur in “Don Giovanni”. From April 1994 until July 2004, Kwangchul Youn was a steady member of the cast of the National Opera “Unter den Linden”, where he performed as the king in “Aida”, the minister in “Fidelio”, King Marke in “Tristan and Isolde”, Bertram in “Robert le diable”, Colline in “La bohème” and as Lodovico in “Otello”.

Engagements at the Opéra Bastille and the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris followed, including the operas “Simon Boccanegra”, “Elektra” and “Fidelio”. Even Barcelona in Spain was one of Kwangchul Youn’s engagements (“Le nozze di Figaro”).

He gave guest performances at several festivals, e.g. at the Great Festivals in Ludiwgsburg, in Salzburg, Austria, and since 1996 regularly in Bayreuth.

At the Festivals of Bayreuth he interpreted with great success the following roles in revivals: the Landgrave in “Tannhäuser (2002), the Titurel in “Parsifal” (2004), the King Marke in “Tristan and Isolde” (2005) and in 2006 the Fasolt in “Rheingold” and the Hunding in “Die Walküre”.

Besides his engagements at the operas of the world, Kwangchul Youn also appeared successfully as a concert singer. The audience of the Philharmonics in Berlin enjoyed his talent in the “Requien” composed by Mozart and Verdi, and in Haydn’s “Nelson-Mass”.

He worked with well-known conductors such as Christian Thielemann, Mark Minkowski, Fabio Luisi, Michael Gielen, Myung-Whun Chung, Zubin Mehta, James Levine, Horst Stein and Thomas Hengelbrock at the opera and in concerts, as well as at the production of several CDs such as the “Meistersinger”-recording in Bayreuth under Daniel Barenboim (released at Teldec) or the Label harmonia mundi (“La Didone”).

The recordings of the operas “Le nozze di Figaro”, “Cosi fan tutte” and “Don Giovanni” were produced under the direction of Bertrand de Billy and were released at the Arte Nova label.

 

Repertoire

ADAM

(Der Postillon von Lonjumeau)

D´ALBERT

Tommaso (Tiefland)

BEETHOVEN

Don Fernando & Minister (Fidelio)

BELLINI

Oroveso (Norma)

BERLIOZ

Narbal (Les Troyens)

DEBUSSY

Arkel (Pelléas und Mélisande)

DONIZETTI

Enrico VIII, re d'Inghilterra (Anna Bolena)

Dulcamara (L'Elisir d'Amore)

Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor)

DUCAS

Barbe-Bleue (Ariane et Barbe-Bleu)

GIORDANO

de Sirieux (Fedora)

GOUNOD

Méphistophélès (Faust)

KEISER

(Croesus)

LORTZING 

(Zar und Zimmermann)

MILHAUD 

(Christoph Columbus)

MEYERBEER

Bertram (Robert le diable)

MOZART

Don Alfonso (Cosi fan tutte)

Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte)

Don Giovanni, Leporello & Komtur (Don Giovanni)

Figaro & Bartolo (Le Nozze di Figaro) 

PUCCINI

Colline (La bohème)

Tosca

ROSSINI

Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia)

SAINT-SAENS

Ein alter Hebräer (Samson und Dalila)

SCHOENBERG 

(Moses und Aaron)

STRAUß 

(Daphne)

(Elektra)

Erster Nazarener (Salome)

VERDI

Ramphis & Der König (Aida)

Attila (Attila)

Philipps II & Großinquisitor (Don Carlos)

Loredano (I due Foscari)

Ferrando (Il Trovatore)

(Jerusalem)

Padre Guardiano & Marchese di Calatrava (La forza del destino)  

Banquo (Macbeth)

Lodovico (Otello)

Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra)

WAGNER 

Fasolt (Das Rheingold)

Hunding (Die Walküre)

Pogner & ein Nachtwächter (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg)

Heinrich der Vogler, deutscher König (Lohengrin)

Gurnemanz & Titurel (Parsifal)

Hermann, Landgraf von Thüringen (Tannhäuser)

König Marke (Tristan und Isolde)

BEETHOVEN

Missa Solemnis

Sinfonie Nr. 9

HAYDN

Nelson-Messe

MOZART

Requiem

SCHOENBERG

Gurre Lieder

VERDI

Messa da Requiem