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This is a list of North Korean operas. [1]
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This is a list of North Korean operas. [1]
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the northern part of the Korean peninsula. It borders China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and Tumen rivers, and South Korea to the south at the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eastern border is defined by the Sea of Japan. North Korea, like its southern counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the entire peninsula and adjacent islands. Pyongyang is the country's capital and largest city.
"Bluebeard" is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in Histoires ou contes du temps passé. The tale tells the story of a wealthy man in the habit of murdering his wives and the attempts of one wife to avoid the fate of her predecessors. "The White Dove", "The Robber Bridegroom" and "Fitcher's Bird" are tales similar to "Bluebeard". The notoriety of the tale is such that Merriam-Webster gives the word "Bluebeard" the definition of "a man who marries and kills one wife after another". The verb "bluebearding" has even appeared as a way to describe the crime of either killing a series of women, or seducing and abandoning a series of women.
The contemporary culture of North Korea is based on traditional Korean culture, but has developed since the division of Korea in 1945. Juche ideology formed by Kim Il-sung (1948–1994) asserts Korea's cultural distinctiveness and creativity as well as the productive powers of the working masses.
The music of North Korea includes a wide array of folk, pop, light instrumental, political, and classical performers. Beyond patriotic and political music, popular groups like Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble and Moranbong Band perform songs about everyday life in the DPRK and modern light pop reinterpretations of classic Korean folk music. Music education is widely taught in schools, with President Kim Il-Sung first implementing a program of study of musical instruments in 1949 at an orphanage in Mangyongdae. Musical diplomacy also continues to be relevant to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, with musical and cultural delegations completing concerts in China and France in recent years, and musicians from Western countries and South Korea collaborating on projects in the DPRK.
Timothy Supple is a British born, award-winning international theatre director. He is the son of the academic Barry Supple.
A kumiho or gumiho is a creature that appears in the folktales and legends of Korea. Korean kumiho shares many similarities to the Chinese huli jing and the Japanese kitsune. It can freely transform, among other things, into a beautiful woman often set out to seduce boys, and eat their liver or heart. There are numerous tales in which the kumiho appears, several of which can be found in the encyclopedic Compendium of Korean Oral Literature.
The cinema of North Korea began with the division of Korea and has been sustained since then by the ruling Kim dynasty. Kim Il-sung and his successor Kim Jong-il were both cinephiles and sought to produce propaganda films based on the Juche ideology.
Sea of Blood is a North Korean opera credited to Kim Il-sung. It was first produced as an opera by Sea of Blood Theatrical Troupe in 1971. It was then later adapted into a novel by the Choseon Novelist Association of the 4.15 Culture Creation Group in 1973.
The State Symphony Orchestra of DPRK (SSO) is the only symphonic orchestra in North Korea and the first classical music ensemble to be established there.
Sundae is a type of blood sausage in Korean cuisine. It is a popular street food in both North and South Korea, generally made by steaming cow or pig's intestines stuffed with various ingredients.
The Flower Girl is a North Korean revolutionary genre theatrical performance, which was written by the country's sole President Kim Il-sung according to official North Korean sources. The performance is considered one of the "Five Great Revolutionary Operas", a group of classical, revolution-themed opera repertoires well received within North Korea. It was also made into a novel. A film adaption of the opera starring Hong Yong-hee was made in 1972.
Jeongdongjin is a town near Gangneung, South Korea, and one of the most popular sites in Korea for watching the sunrise on New Year's Day. It is eighteen kilometers south-east of Gangneung on the east coast of Korea along the Sea of Japan.
Korean revolutionary opera (Korean: 조선혁명가극) is a tradition of revolutionary opera in North Korea based on that of China during the Cultural Revolution. It is characterized by a highly melodramatic style and reoccurring themes of patriotism and glorification of Juche, President Kim Il-sung, and the working people, as well as a focus on socialist realist themes. Composers of North Korean revolutionary opera are employed by the North Korean government and the fundamental principles of North Korean revolutionary opera were dictated by Kim Jong-il in his speech On the Art of Opera.
Kim Won-gyun was a North Korean composer and politician. He is considered one of the most prominent, if not the most celebrated, composer of North Korea. He composed "Aegukka" — the national anthem of the country — and "Song of General Kim Il-sung", in addition to revolutionary operas.
The People's Prize is a North Korean arts and sciences award. It is awarded by the People's Prize Awarding Commission, which is working directly under the Cabinet of North Korea. The prize can be granted to works of art or people. People's Prize has been an important award in the field of North Korean cinema.
The abduction of Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee occurred in North Korea between 1978 and 1986. Shin Sang-ok was a famous South Korean film director married to actress Choi Eun-hee. Together, they established Shin Film and made many films through the 1960s which garnered recognition for South Korea at various film festivals. In 1978, Choi was abducted in Hong Kong and taken to North Korea to the country's future supreme leader Kim Jong-il. The abduction of Shin followed six months later.
Choe Ik-gyu, also known under the pseudonym Choe Sang-gun, is a North Korean film director, propagandist, and politician.
The Tale of Shim Chong is a 1985 North Korean musical film directed by Shin Sang-ok.
On the Art of Opera is a 1974 treatise by Kim Jong-il on opera. According to Korea University associate professor of North Korean studies Jae-Cheon Lim, it is one of the most important North Korean works on the arts. At the time of writing, Kim had just started his career in the North Korean cultural industry. The piece takes as its framework the Juche ideology and "seed" theory that Kim had previously applied to cinema. Because opera is a mixed art form, Kim finds it particularly revealing of a nation's artistic state and important for the application of his seed theory. Kim finds hierarchies between and within elements of opera, like instruments subordinate to vocals and music over dance. The main thrust of the work is to replace classical – mainly Western but also certain forms of Korean – opera with an allegedly superior Korean revolutionary opera. Kim analyzes various Western operatic forms such as aria, recitative, and leitmotif to reject them. In Kim's view, the ideal revolutionary opera should be based on stanzaic and strophic songs, of which the highest form is a supposedly novel form of offstage chorus called pangchang. The opera that is, according to Kim, most characteristic of his ideas is Sea of Blood, which is to be emulated.
Ri Kyong Suk is a North Korean singer.
