It’s not easy to find an Asian conductor actively performing in Europe.

Hogen Yun, former assistant conductor of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden (Berlin State Opera), is a rare case.

His resume is impressive. He has worked with Maestros Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta and Simon Rattle, and for the noted Berlin State Opera, Frankfurt Museums Chamber Brass, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin and others, performing more than 80 pieces including “Tristan and Isolde,” “La Traviata,” and “Simon Boccanegra.”

“It wasn’t easy. I had to devote more than 13-15 hours a day to music and German language training. All I could ever think of was music,” Yun recalled in his interview with The Korea Herald on Tuesday.

The 45-year-old fell in love with classical music at 18, when he saw the video of “Tristan and Isolde” by Wagner. The four-hour opera and its complex score changed his life completely.

“Since then, I have always dreamt about being in Germany and living with its music,” he said.

Braving the cold and long winter nights with coffee and a piano for more than 12 years, Yun said he has finally managed to understand the region’s music and its atmosphere.

And now, Yun will be leading the Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra and the Seoul Metropolitan Opera in a performance of “Die Zauberflte (The Magic Flute)” at Sejong Center for the Performing Arts on Nov. 19. He is expected to deliver the German spirit and atmosphere throughout the piece, which is called one of the three best operas from Mozart alongside “Cosi fan Tuttee” and “Don Giovanni.”

“Though the initial responsibility is of conducting the orchestra, I also had the opportunity to oversee the direction of the drama, too. And I prioritized the diction ― whether the singers could pronounce German lyrics accurately in order to meet the expectations of the opera fans who remember every line,” Yun said. Lim Jung-eun, marketing manager of the opera company, explained that Yun has spent much of his time correcting the diction, which made the singers glad and relieved.

He is focusing on delivering the original atmosphere of the piece.

“The Magic Flute was not played in a royal opera house but at a very down-to-earth theater in a bustling market. It means the piece was for ordinary people, not the intelligent or noble ones,” he said. The arias will be sung in German but the dialogues will be delivered in Korean for easier understanding by the Korean audience.

“Just follow the wonderful journey of Tamino and Pamina, alongside Papageno. Listen to the voice of the Queen of the Night with the famous aria, challenging the limit of the human voice,” he said.

Yun also noted that the interesting thing about the “Magic Flute” is the fact that there isn’t a clear barrier between good and evil.

“It really reflects the reality in the unrealistic world. I think that’s an aspect of German (language) music,” he added.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)