MEDIATHEK

"Sejong Camerata" is a cooperation workshop, held by the Seoul Metropolitan Opera. Under the lead of its Director, Geon-Yong Lee, it allows young, talented, and ambitious composers and authors to collaborate in opera projects, that are "creative, original, authentic, Korean and global". In 2013 it has brought to live four different works, that entered a "reading performance" competition. "As The Moon Arrives On The Water..." by composer UZong Choe and author Yeon-Ock Ko, was finally chosen to be staged as a full opera production in 2014.


"As The Moon Arrives On The Water..." tells the story of tragic entanglement between Kyeongja and Sunam. The question that lays beneath is about the nature of human relationships, the meaning of love, life and mutual understanding.

The protagonist Sunam, a cargo truck driver, meets the much younger Kyeongja, who offers her services at a bar-like establishment. They get to know each other and finally, while expecting a child, decide to get married.

The tragedy approaches with the interference of Kyeongja's step-family, which leads to a double homicide. Sunam is charged for murder, which he did not commit, and during the investigations, facts come to light, that shed new light on the characters and on the event itself.

"Do you know my heart? Have you seen it?" "A Man and a woman meet. That is for sure." "Man and woman meet as the moon arrives on the waters." "You chose him for a reason..." "Think, thinking..."

These short lines are presented in the beginning of the play and are repraised several times.

"What is your heart telling you?
What’s seen and what’s not …
Veiled by thoughts, veiled by thoughts…
… as the moon arrives on the waters"

Still, even the last lines leave the audience with a sense of knowledge, but without an answer.


The production of "As The Moon Arrives On The Water..." was highly welcomed by the Korean opera scene, which is dominated by traditional western opera and lacks original productions. The "Sejong Camerata" is continuing its efforts to bring new impulse to the scene.