Hera Hyesang Park
whose middle name means “blessed, positive energy”, has an approach to life and art based on her commitment to her South Korean roots and a genuine, open curiosity about other world cultures. “I’m very happy to join a label that values the best of the past, understands the needs of the present and wants to shape the future,” she says. “Creating my debut album for Deutsche Grammophon is proving to be a process of self-discovery. I want to see what might be hidden beneath the protective layers in which we all need to clothe ourselves. This recording will let me show who I am and share the music I love in the most direct and simple way possible.”

Describing herself as a nomad and free spirit, Hera Hyesang is determined to follow her own path as she travels the world, challenging cultural, racial and gender stereotypes along the way. Her fascination with the issue of personal identity is determining the choice of repertoire for her forthcoming first album. Collectively representing her lyric coloratura voice and understanding of her art, her selected works will also be linked to key episodes in her life and career so far. She hopes this musical self-portrait will speak to a wide audience. The album will be released first in South Korea, to coincide with her tour of the country in November 2020.

Critics have followed Hera Hyesang Park’s career since her time as a graduate student at New York’s Juilliard School of Music and showered her early performances with superlatives. Opera News commended her “ability to put bel canto splendor to expressive use” and The New York Times her “bright, clear voice and impressive coloratura technique”. Rave reviews likewise followed her 2019 house debuts as Musetta in Barrie Kosky’s new production of La bohème at the Komische Oper Berlin and Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia at Glyndebourne. Her flair for fashion, meanwhile, caught the eye of Vogue editor-in-chief Dame Anna Wintour, who chose the Giambattista Valli gown Hera Hyesang wore at New York’s Met Gala in 2018, an event at which she dazzled all present with her performance of music by Mozart, Puccini, Duparc, Obradors and Gounod.