They counted themselves out. Deutsche Oper Berlin did not

Kim Geon, Choi Young and Roh Min-hyung have a lot in common.

Kim is a baritone.

Roh and Choi are basses.

All three stand over 180 centimeters, all three are around 30 years old — and all three, at some point, concluded they were not good enough.

Kim graduated from Seoul National University without having sung a paid operatic role.

Studying abroad was the assumed next step, but when he added up rent, utilities and a phone bill in a foreign city, he could not see how it would work — so he spent a ...