Popera tenor Lim Hyung-joo takes 'one-day detour' into baroque

For nearly three decades, Lim Hyung-joo has been Korea’s best-known pop-opera tenor. On Nov. 20, he will put down the microphone and sing nothing but baroque.

Lim, 40, will join Italy’s Orchestra da Camera di Mantova for its first concert in Korea at 7:30 p.m. at Yongsan Arts Hall in Seoul. He will sing three pieces: the “Ave Maria” by Vladimir Vavilov long attributed to Giulio Caccini, Alessandro Scarlatti’s “Gia il Sole Dal Gange,” and “Lascia Ch’io Pianga” from Handel’s opera “Rinaldo.”

“When classical singers release a crossover album, people call it a detour,” Lim said Monday at a press conference at the Yongsan Foundation for Arts & Culture, which he chairs. “For me, it’s the other way around. This stage is my special one-day detour.”

Lim released his debut album, “Whispers of Hope,” in 1998. The following year he entered Yewon School as a voice major. He went on to Juilliard’s precollege division and later studied voice in Florence, Italy. His teachers steered him toward early music, saying his light, high leggero tenor suited Handel more than Puccini or Verdi.

“I heard ‘baroque suits you’ about 20 percent of the time and ‘go into popera’ 80 percent of the time,” he said. He made the choice after two months of deliberation. He pointed to soprano Sumi Jo and conductor Kum Nan-se, who built careers bringing classical music to wider audiences. The baroque training stayed in the background; until now, Lim said, he has never sung a program made up entirely of baroque works.

This time, he said, he sang each of the three pieces at least 100 times over three months. He has not sung “Lascia Ch’io Pianga” live in nearly 20 years, as it is usually performed by countertenors and sopranos.

The biggest change is physical. At popera concerts, he relies on amplification, but this performance will use almost none. “I’m putting the stamina I’d spend on more than a dozen songs at a popera concert into these three,” he said.

“Ave Maria” carries personal weight for Lim. He has sung it during a private audience with Pope Francis and at a memorial for victims of the 2003 Daegu subway fire. He also sang it at a Mass at Myeongdong Cathedral marking 100 days since the Sewol ferry sinking in 2014. Most recently, he sang it at the funeral Mass of veteran actor Choi Bool-am, who died Oct. 29 at 87. Lim called Choi his "uncle," though they were not related, and said his voice faltered in the second verse.

Founded in 1981 in Mantua, northern Italy, the roughly 30-member orchestra performs without a conductor. It is led by violinist Carlo Fabiano, its co-founder, concertmaster and artistic director. The ensemble has won the Abbiati Prize, awarded by Italian music critics, and has collaborated with Gidon Kremer, Joshua Bell, Mischa Maisky, Sol Gabetta and Vladimir Ashkenazy. Seoul is the first stop on its Korea tour, which continues to Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province.

Other cities on the tour will feature different soloists. Lim Sang-woo, the foundation’s president, said the foundation asked its chairperson to sing in Seoul after discussing it with him. “He is doing this as a service to the foundation,” he said, adding that the singer's public profile has been invaluable in raising awareness of the young foundation.

The singer took up the unpaid post in December 2025, and the foundation launched March 3. The 787-seat hall reopened in October after a renovation that replaced its carpeting with wood floors to improve the acoustics.

Lim Sang-woo said it aims to build a repertoire of its own, including the K-Popera Festival and the musical “A Christmas Carol,” which runs Dec. 11-26. “Once we have about five productions, we can run a full season with our own content,” he said.

The president sees Yongsan’s redevelopment, including an international business district and a park on the former US military base, as an opportunity for the foundation. “Homes, offices and a park are a given here,” he said. “How much culture goes into the mix will decide Yongsan’s quality of life.”

Lim Hyung-joo said he plans to retire from active performing in 2028, as he celebrates his 30th anniversary.

“I want to leave the stage while people are still applauding,” he said. He added that he would still give a charity recital once a year.