Korean sees nude opera

Opening night at the opera is an occasion to see and be seen in polite society, wearing the right clothes, observing the proper etiquette. But at last week`s opening program of Verdi`s "Rigoletto" at the Seoul Arts Center, propriety was thrown out the window, and the clothes went right with it. The opera house invited a racy English production depicting graphic sex acts, orgies and male frontal nudity thrown in for good measure. But such is the sign of the times, the staid Seoul Arts Center went "full monty," and almost no one seemed to bat a lash. The Korean media, for their part, diligently warned the public with reports of the bare-breasted London premiere, the shrieks of horror that followed and speculations on the conservative Korean public`s reaction. Despite some anxieties on the part of the organizers, the performance did not cause much of a stir. "People didn`t think too much of it, frankly, aside from a handful of people who asked why this was necessary. I just referred them to the director`s notes," said Bak Min-jun, the program manager of the Seoul Arts Center Opera House. If the people`s noses weren`t buried in the program, it`s because the first scene featured more than a handful of female extras, in various stages of undress, participating in a raucous house party gone mad. A nude couple was placed well in the middle of a cheering crowd, and the man emerged in full display, carried by the mob. Unlike the nude models used in last year`s "La Boheme," which Bak conceded was "purely decorative," nudity was just one necessary component to make credible an opera notorious for sex and violence ever since its premiere over 150 years ago. Later this month, the Seoul Arts Center is housing the traditionally sensational "Rite of Spring" with the sacrificial virgin performing a 15-minute nude dance solo. The Korean Culture and Arts Foundation will present choreographer Maureen Fleming`s piece, unabashedly titled, "After Eros." Never have so many performances featuring nudity been given such unfettered reign on so many prominent stages. "As a whole, society has become used to nudity and sexual activity through movies and the Internet. Artists feel that they need a stronger impact using nudity or sex acts to reach an audience," offered Bak. Doubtless the relevance of sex and nudity in contemporary art, but what are the reasons for the conspicuous string of stripped-down performances lately? Is nudity just the latest marketing point for the fickle concert-going public? Nudity is okay "as long as it serves a relevant artistic purpose, and not just nudity for nudity sake," said Bak, whose next project is Mozart`s "Don Giovanni," playing later this November. The promotion poster features the Don Juan behind another one of his female victims, his hands cupped around her breast, and her expressive moan betraying either pleasure or pain.