To the great disappointment of classical music lovers who had anticipated the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra’s opening concert for the Tongyeong International Music Festival on Saturday, the Austrian orchestra has called off its visit to Korea due to fears of radiation from Japan just two days before the concert.The TIMF secretariat office said on Thursday the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra cancelled

Singer Kim Gun-mo said he has voluntarily decided to stay out of MBC’s survival program “I am a Singer,” apologizing for his earlier choice to remain in the program even after he received the lowest score from the audience in the competition against six other singers in the latest episode. In each episode, seven singers are given a mission to perform in front of a 500-member audience made up of or

MBC said Wednesday it will replace Kim Young-hee, the veteran producer of singer survival program “I Am a Singer,” admitting that the producer’s decision to keep Kim Gun-mo ― who should have been eliminated in the first round of the competition with six other singers ― was wrong.In each episode, seven singers are given a mission to perform in front of a 500-member audience made up of ordinary view

Maestro Chung Myung-whun, Seoul Philharmonic to perform in Verdi’s ‘Simon Boccanegra’Popular operas by Italy’s two most famous opera composers ― Puccini and Verdi ― will be staged in Seoul in April.The Seoul Metropolitan Opera Company will stage opera “Tosca,” one of the most frequently performed operas among Puccini’s works, from April 21 to April 24 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts’

Mexican restaurant fires up casual lunch menuFrom outside, Mexican bar and restaurant Mamasita looks like a posh, high-end establishment, located near the wealthy Cheongdam-dong shopping district in southern Seoul.The two-story building, tucked behind Bennigans at the Hakdong Intersection, has a spacious outdoor garden and a parking lot.Breaking with the stereotype that bistros in Cheongdam-dong a

The Ritz-Carlton, SeoulThe hotel offers a special honeymoon package. The package includes a night stay at a Superior Deluxe room with a nice view, a bottle of sparkling wine, chocolates and complementary use of the fitness club and swimming pool the next day. The package, coming at the price of 250,000 won, is available until Dec. 30. For more information or reservations call (02) 3451-8114.JW Mar

The government in cooperation with Korea Tourism Organization and local tourism companies plans to publish condolences in Japanese newspapers next week.“In the wake of the latest massive earthquake and tsunami Japanese people are suffering greatly. To console them, the KTO and the local tourism industry are in talks to put a condolences advertisement in the Japanese media,” Vice Culture Minister M

Grammy-winning American violinist Hilary Hahn and U.K.’s English Chamber Orchestra will meet their Korean fans on April 12 at the Seoul Arts Concert Hall. Hahn last visited Seoul three years ago.Hahn, 31, is one of the most sought after violinists in the world, along with Korean-American violinist Sarah Chang, 30. Hahn and Chang have been often compared with each other due to their different perfo

Program encompasses wide repertoire from Haydn to ShostakovichWhen it comes to symphonies, the most frequently performed composers in Korea are those composed by Tchaikovsky, Dvorak and Beethoven.To encourage classical music lovers to enjoy a broad range of music and to allow extensive study of each composer’s symphonies in chronological order, the Goyang Aram Nuri Arts Center said it will kick of

British actor Colin Firth and Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman will work on South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook’s new movie according to news reports. Firth, who recently won the Best Actor Academy Award for his role in the film “The King’s Speech,” will join Kidman in Park’s new movie “Stoker,” the U.K.’s Daily Mail and the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. Colin Firth (Xinhua-Yonhap News) Ni

French composer Charles Goudnod’s opera “Faust,” which premiered in the mid-19th century in Paris, is one of the most frequently performed operas in the world. The Metropolitan Opera in New York City alone has staged it more than 750 times since 1883.The Korea National Opera is to stage “Faust” from March 16-20 at the Seoul Arts Center’s Opera Theater. It is the second of the opera company’s four-

Swanson plans to donate books on Korea dating from 1800sPresident of SKAL Seoul Club for 2011 and Millennium Seoul Hilton general manager Eric Swanson said Korean policymakers should send a “consistent” message to the outside world to make Korean tourism sustainable in the long term.Swanson is currently busy making preparations for the 2012 SKAL World Congress to take place in Seoul on Oct. 7-12,

Korea’s advertising industry shrank 1.3 percent in 2009 from a year earlier in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, a report showed Monday. The report by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism showed the total size of the advertisement market decreased to 9.18 trillion won ($8.12 billion) in 2009 from 9.31 trillion won in 2008.The shrinkage was attributed to reduced corporate investm

Lotte Hotel Seoul Lotte Hotel Seoul’s Chinese restaurant Toh Lim on the 37th floor has invited the executive chef Fung Chekeung of the two-Michelin-starred Chugoku Hanten Fureika and the owner chef Nakazo Tomizo of Chugoku Hanten Group to showcase the essence of Chinese cuisine on March 16 and 17. Chugoku Hanten Fureika’s nine-course lunch and dinner courses will include a special Chinese BBQ appe

Even the polite Koreans’ patience had been running short during the 35-minute wait for Corinne Bailey Rae to appear. When she arrived, though, the British singer-songwriter’s irresistible smile, conversation with the audience and unbeatably soulful voice instantly killed any complaints.Performing her first solo concert in Seoul at Ax Hall on Thursday night, the 32-year-old appeared on stage wearin

Mexican-American guitarist’s performance fit for a legendCarlos Santana, the 63-year-old lead guitarist of rock band Santana, transcended all kinds of barriers ― including age, language and nationality ― during his live concert in Seoul on Wednesday evening.Appearing on the Olympic Gymnastics Gymnasium’s stage with his trademark black top hat, black adidas tracksuit bottoms and matching short-slee

Denis Sung-ho Janssens leads four string artists on ‘journey to the sun’Italian composer and violin virtuoso Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840) was also a guitarist, composing more than 100 songs for guitar. Paganini’s Sonata for Violin and Guitar in E minor became especially famous in Korea after it was used as background music in the 1995 SBS drama “Sandglass.”Korean-born Belgian guitarist Denis Sung-

Program includes new song ‘He is from Seoul, She is from Pyongyang’Canadian pianist and composer Steve Barakatt said he will perform his song “He is from Seoul, She is from Pyongyang,” the No. 5 track of his new album “Someday, Somewhere,” at his upcoming concert in Seoul.Barakatt is scheduled to hold a “White Day” recital at the Seoul Arts Center’s Concert Hall on Sunday and Monday, as March 14 i

Ven. Myeongjin, former chief monk of Bongeun Temple, has left the temple permanently, claiming that he was coerced to leave by the nation’s intelligence agency chief who allegedly took issue with his anti-government comments. The Bongeun Temple is part of the Jogye order, the largest Buddhist sect in Korea, and is the largest temple in southern Seoul. Since Nov. 9, Ven. Myeongjin has been away for

The Korea Tourism Organization said it will attract Japanese tourists to Daegu through a series of promotional meetings in five major cities of Japan from March 7 to March 12.Daegu is scheduled to host the International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships from Aug. 27 to Sept. 4, and the KTO has set the year 2011 as “Visit Daegu Year” to boost tourism in the city.The KTO’s iti