 1990 English edition | |
| Author | Kim Jong Il |
|---|---|
| Subject |
|
| Publisher | Foreign Languages Publishing House |
Publication date | 1974 |
| Publication place | North Korea |
Published in English | 1990 |
| Pages | 177 |
| OCLC | 35592320 |
| LC Class | ML1751.K81 K56 1990 |
| On the Art of Opera | |
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 가극예술에 대하여 |
|---|---|
| Hancha | 歌劇藝術에 對하여 |
| Revised Romanization | Gageug-yesul-e daehayeo |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kagŭgyesure taehayŏ |
| [1] | |
Having reviewed the successes and experiences gained in the opera revolution, I will speak about some problems arising in further developing opera art.
On the Art of Opera[2]
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.