“Heungboga": The Sound of Korea

“The artistic activity has become the beating heart of my life,
I am pleased to help spread the beautiful sounds of Korea
around the world to share the emotions.”
(Kim Jung Min)

 

“Heungboga, The Sound of Korea”. Torlonia Theater. Rome, 7 December 2021

“Heungboga, also called Baktaryeong, is one of the five stories of Pansori, a genre of Korean musical narration that derives from the union of pan, that is “a place where many people gather”, and sori, or “sound”, and it's generally performed by a sorikkun, a singer, and a gosu, a drummer who uses the buk drum. It is a musical repertoire with fairytale characteristics mixed with short narratives.

The best Master performer – Myeongchang – is considered the one who expresses aniri, cadence with mixed embellishments, together with neureumsae, an extraordinary combination of expression and gestures.”

 

So it's written in the accompanying libretto to the opera “Heungboga – The Sound of Korea”, which took place in Rome, in the splendid theater of Villa Torlonia, organized by Spazio D, and performed by the singer Kim Jung Min and the buk player Kwangsu Choi.

For me it was the first time to attend a traditional Korean recital, and I must admit that, even if I didn't understand a single word and couldn't read the story that flowed on the screen, I was mesmerized by the singer – though just to call her “singer” is very reductive. The presence of stage of her is incredible and the hold of breath and rhythm with the voice, to which was added the snap of the opening of the fan on beat time, truly impressive. Considering a brief pause between the two acts, of fifteen minutes, Kim kept the theater enchanted for two and a half hours, only with the voice, the movements of her body and her facial expressions, inhabiting the stage in every centimeter.

After all, Kim Jung Min is precisely the Best Performer Master, as her title says, and she has been performing the Pansori national intangible cultural heritage for forty years, starting as a child, a pupil of the late master Park Song-hee.

A graduate of Pansori from the Korean Music Department of Daejong-Ang University, she has also held roles as an actress. Since 2013 she has performed complete Pansori shows, which earned her the “Korea Grand Prize Award” in 2019, aimed at those who are committed to the spreading of Korean cultural heritage.

It is believed that Pansori owes its origin to muga, the songs of Korean shamanism. Even the pannorum, non-ritual public entertainment, has strongly influenced the Pansori, which in fact is considered a type of pannorum.

Pansori was born in the seventeenth century, during the Joseon dynasty (1392-1897). The more mature forms of Pansori emerged only later, in the eighteenth century, but it is the nineteenth century that is considered the golden age of Pansori, with an increase in popularity and an advance in the technique. During the first half of the nineteenth century, mainly melodies and vocal techniques were used which attracted the attention of the wealthier classes. However, folk music was used to broaden the musical vocabulary. An important development of Pansori is due to Shin Jae-hyo (1812-1884): he reinterpreted and wrote songs suitable for the upper classes, and instructed the first important singers. In the second half of the 1800s, there were new advances in the form of new variations and versions.

The Pansori dance companies, popular in the mid-twentieth century, were forgotten with the arrival of the 1960s. Due to its decline in popularity and South Korea's modernization, Pansori was declared Intangible National Cultural Property in 1964, which helped make it famous again, both academically and practically, and earned it recognition of its cultural value and support of institutions: on 7 November 2003 it was declared an oral and intangible heritage of humanity.

I want to mention Jin Chae-seon (Gochang, 1842 or 1847), considered the first woman to have performed in the Pansori, at a time when only men were allowed to go on stage, contributing to the appearance of many other female artists. Born in a fishing village to a shaman mother and a local entertainer father, she remains a legendary figure about whose end nothing is known: according to some unconfirmed rumors, she would have become a nun in a small Buddhist temple in Gimje, dying in solitude.

The Opera is divided into two parts, each of nine stories.

Regarding the story told, I report briefly part of the text – which you find in the link down – written by Claudio Elli:

“The story is about two brothers, Heungbo and Nolbo. Heungbo, who is poor but has a good heart, heals a swallow's broken leg, which returns Heungbo's kindness by bringing him a pumpkin seed. The seed is buried and a new fruit full of treasures is born. At this point, the elder brother Nolbo, wealthy as well as greedy and mischievous, having learned of the incident, deliberately breaks a swallow's foot to heal it in turn. The bird also brings him a pumpkin seed, but the fruit that comes from it is inhabited by frightening monsters.”

The show concluded with a roar of applause, with the two artists called several times to the stage for the honors and the final photograph with the Korean Ambassador Mr. Hee-seog Kwon.

Obviously, stage photography is not easy, even if it remains among my favorites, especially for singing since the voice cannot be “photographed”, therefore in the images that voice becomes the body, the expression of the face, the gestures. I hope to have managed to capture the charm of this show.

The last note goes to the exquisite courtesy of the organizers for their availability and for allowing me total freedom of movement for the photographs.

Special thanks to Davide.

 

Selfie with the artists before going on stage.

To enjoy Kim Jung Min's vocal skills:

HEUNGBOGA. L’INCANTO DELLA TRADIZIONE

Italian version