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Final 'Again 2024 Turandot' performance canceled amid controversial run

Published: 31 Dec. 2024, 16:06

An official poster for the opera ″Again 2024 Turandot.″ [TURANDOT CULTURE INDUSTRY]

The last scheduled performance of the controversy-marred opera event "Again 2024 Turandot” has been canceled, the Turandot Culture Industry Company said on Monday.

The last show of the highly anticipated opera, slated for Tuesday night, was called off amid a slew of customer complaints and the abrupt exits of director Davide Livermore and conductor Paolo Carignani. The last performance had been planned as a New Year’s Eve event, beginning at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday with a countdown to welcome the New Year.

Kicking off on Dec. 22, the production led by Park Hyun-jun, the artistic director of Turandot Culture Industry Company, garnered nationwide attention for its staggering 20 billion won ($13.6 million) budget and star-studded cast, conducted by opera legends like Carignani, Plácido Domingo and José Cura.

However, this heightened excitement diminished after a series of controversies, including mismanagement and conflicts between the cast and the production team.

The disputes intensified after Carignani withdrew from the production on Sunday, citing unpaid fees and the lack of a fixed conducting schedule. Livermore pulled out just nine hours before the opening show on Dec. 22, also citing unpaid contractual fees as the reason.

“I called for a final conducting schedule nine times, but all my requests were ignored,” Carignani said in a press release on Sunday. “Since Dec. 28, I was left in my hotel without a fixed schedule, rendering it impossible to fulfill my duties.”

A performance of ″Again 2024 Turandot” [TURANDOT CULTURE INDUSTRY]

Carignani's Korean agency told local media that the conductor had been unilaterally informed that Cura would conduct the performance on Dec. 24, prompting Carignani to terminate his contract and leave Korea.

The production was initially slated for 10 performances from Dec. 22 through Tuesday. Carignani was to conduct five of them, including the Christmas Eve performance. Cura was scheduled to lead three, and Domingo would conduct two.

The production team is under siege from audiences as well.

At the opening show at Coex D Hall in Gangnam District of southern Seoul, many customers were disappointed due to a lack of communication regarding changes in seating arrangements, which kept them from attending the premiere. The show's organizers had reduced the seating capacity from 6,000 to 4,000 without prior notice.

Reports indicate that the audience either received seats that were randomly reassigned by the organizers or were advised to sit anywhere.

The performance started 20 minutes late as hundreds of ticket holders couldn’t enter because they hadn’t received their prebooked tickets.

BY YOON SEUNG-JIN [[email protected]]