Soprano Lim Sun-hye and countertenor Lee Dong-gyu reunite for 'Love Duet' after 20 years

The memory of their first meeting is still vivid. They were 22 and 24, fearless and unhesitating — an era of what Lim Sun-hye calls "healthy ambition." It was 2000, at the Queen Elisabeth Competition, and both had advanced to the final round. "Korean singers sweep competitions now, but back then it was virtually unheard of for two Asians to reach the finals together — it was quite a sensation," said Lim, 50. The two had known each other only by name through mutual acquaintances, and that stage was the moment they finally came face to face. In an arena of solitary competition and struggle, each immediately recognized the other's extraordinary talent.

"There are many singers born with beautiful voices, but how you interpret and perform a piece determines the direction of the music entirely," said Lee Dong-gyu, 48. "Sun-hye unni had all three — interpretation, expression and acting." He added with a laugh that Lim had performed many of the arias he loved most, and that the encounter opened up a whole new world of interpretation for him.

Even among the amateur competitors, Lim carried the unmistakable air of a professional. Unlike most participants, who performed with accompanists assigned by the organizers, she had brought her own — someone she had worked with for years. As Lee recalled the scene with the vividness of a film, Lim offered her own reading: "The reason Dong-gyu saw something in me was probably because the things he values in music, his goals and his artistic direction, aligned with mine." For Lim, the sight of Lee had been something close to a shock.

"It was when he sang Poulenc's 'Hôtel.' He was half-draped over the piano, singing in whatever pose he wanted, completely at ease in front of a foreign audience. The very existence of an Asian countertenor was unusual enough at the time, but that passion and purity — it was remarkable and deeply impressive." (Lim Sun-hye)

Twenty-six years have passed since then. The two singers who once strained to make their names known at competitions now stand together again as masters of their craft. This week's concert marks their first shared stage since "Love Duet" in 2006 — a gap of 20 years. The reunion of soprano Lim Sun-hye and countertenor Lee Dong-gyu is more than a blending of voices; it is a chronicle of friendship and artistic solidarity between two Korean singers who carved out their place on the world stage together.

Meeting recently in Jongno, Seoul, the two said: "If the stage 20 years ago was about proving our fierce ambition, now we have the ease to draw a single, complete narrative together."

After meeting at the competition, the two became each other's staunchest supporters. Lee, who had gone to Canada early for his studies and built a career on the North American circuit, lost no opportunity to recommend Lim to his record label, playing the role of her personal promoter. "I wrote a lot of 'the next so-and-so' pitches," he said with a laugh.

Lim, who had already blazed a trail on the European stage and performed alongside legendary conductors, recommended an agency to Lee when he set his sights on Europe and shared what amounted to a practical manual for breaking into the European scene. She gave freely the networks and insider knowledge she had built through years of hard-won experience, each propelling the other's growth. "Sun-hye unni was a true inside spy and colleague when I was trying to make it in Europe — she was a tremendous help," Lee said, laughing.

Two decades passed, and the fresh energy of youth deepened into seasoned artistry. In that time, Lee conquered the European opera stage and became a star countertenor who found a second peak of fame through JTBC's "Phantom Singer." Lim established herself as an unrivaled early-music diva, sharing the stage with Philippe Herreweghe and René Jacobs. The music they make now carries a different quality than it did 20 years ago.

"Back then — in 2006 — nothing scared us. We tried things without hesitation, the kind of ideas you'd wonder how anyone even thought of. So the program 20 years ago had every fun piece you could possibly do as a duo." (Lim Sun-hye)

Listening to her, Lee described it as a time when "desire and ambition were bubbling over." He burned with the drive to perform at the world's five greatest opera houses and to succeed quickly as the head of his family. The Lee of his 20s, who "knew nothing but singing and ran like a racehorse," and the Lim who carried a deep question about whether she was truly giving her best to music — together, through "Love Duet," they proved their musicianship to the fullest. Now, they say, they can read each other's intentions from a single breath.

"As experience accumulates and egos grow, it's easy for each person to become stubborn in their own way — but we accept each other's blunt musical feedback without hesitation, even if we might sulk for about five seconds," Lim said. Lee agreed. "Playing with Sun-hye unni is so comfortable that we could improvise and it would be fine," he said. "With the refined detail we have now, we can take on new challenges freely, without having to second-guess each other."

The second chapter of "Love Duet" traces the evolution of opera. The program centers on Handel — indispensable to any early-music singer — and Mozart, who followed in his footsteps.

"If Handel is the originator of bel canto, Mozart serves as the bridge connecting it to the Classical era," Lee said. "Through Handel we want to show the mythic, heroic ideal of love; through Mozart, the realistic human love — full of humor and jealousy."

The concert's artistic aim has also shifted from 20 years ago. Where the 2006 program poured out a wide-ranging repertoire, this program is built to form a single narrative arc. Familiar works — Handel's "Rinaldo," Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" and "Don Giovanni" — sit alongside lesser-known arias, all woven together under the theme of love's many transformations. "Even pieces the audience doesn't know, we want them to feel as if they're hearing a brand-new song," the two said.

The love depicted by Handel and Mozart could not be more different. Where Handel embodies heroic, idealized romance, Mozart is a master of love as it actually happens — lovers making foolish mistakes, becoming someone they barely recognize. The blunt outbursts of "How could you do this to me?" and the flashes of jealousy feel thoroughly contemporary.

"Handel's lyrics have the living meter of classical poetry — sometimes almost embarrassingly refined and romantic, singing of a poetic ideal," Lim said with a smile. "Mozart, by contrast, is as direct and unfiltered as a relationship happening right now."

"A good romance needs an equal balance of idealized language and real-life push-and-pull — fifty-fifty. I think the concert will give audiences that same satisfying mix, moving between Handel's romanticism and Mozart's reality." (Lim Sun-hye)

The "Love Duet" built from 26 years of shared history carries a depth of life that no chord alone can produce. They met first as competitors, then became mirrors for each other, and finally a musical sanctuary for one another. The "every moment of love" they are about to perform is, in itself, a journey through the years they have walked together.

What brought them back to the same stage after all this time was, at its core, the bond between two people. "There is so much I can still learn from the way Sun-hye unni pursues her own clear artistic vision and executes it with complete control on stage — that has never changed," Lee said. Lim smiled in return. "Even now, with all the years and experience behind him, there is still a boy's purity and undiminished passion alive inside Dong-gyu," she said. "Being able to share music with him is a blessing."