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On the Art of Opera(1)

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On the Art of Opera(1) ON THE ART OF OPERA Talk to Creative Workers in the Field of Art and Literature September 4-6, 1974 Three years have passed since the creation and first performance of the revolutionary opera The Sea of Blood. I am delighted to be meeting again you, the creative workers in the field of art and literature, who have, by taking an active part in the opera revolution over recent years, made a significant contribution to the development of opera art, and to be talking to you, recollecting the creative work done in those years. It was in July 1971 that we adapted the classic drama The Sea of Blood, which was created in the flames of the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle, into a revolutionary opera of our own style, and gave the premiere of it in the presence of the great leader. This was an event of great significance in the development of art and literature in our country. The creation and public performance of the revolutionary opera The Sea of Blood proclaimed to the world the birth of a new style of opera, the Sea of Blood-style opera, which is fundamentally different from conventional operas. Since then steady progress has been made in the opera revolution in our country. The creation of the revolutionary opera The Sea of Blood was a historic turning point, the breaking of the old pattern that had remained in the field of opera for many years and the ushering in of a new era of revolutionary opera. In the course of creating the revolutionary opera The Sea of Blood we gained valuable experiences and, on the basis of this, staged the revolutionary opera The Flower Girl which, in a little over a year, was adapted from the classic drama of the same name; then we created, in succession, the revolutionary operas, Tell O Forest, A True Daughter of the Party and Song of Mt. Kumgang. For their high ideological and noble artistic qualities, the revolutionary operas created in the course of our opera revolution have aroused the great admiration not only of our people but also of the peoples of many other countries across the world. This is a rich fruit of our Party،¯s policy on the opera revolution. The golden age of opera in our country began in the first half of the 1970s. Having reviewed the successes and experiences gained in the opera revolution, I will speak about some problems arising in further developing opera art. 1. THE TIMES AND OPERA 1) THE OPERA REVOLUTION IS A REQUIREMENT OF THE TIMES Opera art reflects the times, and its change and development are governed by the era. The operas of the feudal and capitalist days represented and served those periods. Ours is a new historical era when the popular masses have emerged as the masters of their destiny and of the world and are making history and shaping their own destiny. This period requires a new type of opera to serve the popular masses. The operas which were created in the exploitative society contain the socio-historical and ideological and artistic limitations of that age, so they do not accord with the thoughts and feelings of our contemporaries who are building socialism and communism, nor do they cater to their cultural needs. Although a number of changes have been evident in operas in the past, they were essentially mere reforms within the bounds of bourgeois opera. The newly-emergent bourgeoisie was opposed to the operas that had been serving feudal ,lords, so they advocated ،°human rights،± and ،°liberty،±. However when they themselves became the ruling class, they made opera serve those who were rich. By preaching a longing for the good old days and class cooperation by means of opera, the successive ruling classes used it as a means of pacifying the discontent of the people with the exploitative system. Therefore, opera remained for a long time as a form of entertainment and a means of money-making, and a tool for spreading illusions about emperors, God, power and gold. From the artistic point of view, the operas of bygone days do not accord with the requirements of the masses of our times. The forms and methods of portrayal of conventional operas, which were made to cater to the tastes of the exploiting classes, contain many aspects that do not appeal to the tastes and feelings of the people of our times. Our people today do not like amorphous lyrics, complicated rhythms, recitatives that are neither songs nor speeches, outmoded stage- settings and other stereotyped methods of portrayal. Without eliminating such outmoded patterns we cannot produce a true opera that reflects the aspirations and needs of the masses. In order to overcome the socio-historical, ideological and artistic limitations of opera art and create an opera of a new style that reflects the aspirations and desires of the people of the Juche age, we must conduct a revolution in all domains of opera?the content and form, the system and method of creation. Conducting a revolution in opera is also a pressing need for the development of art and literature in our country. Opera is a mixed art that integrates poems, music, dance and fine arts. On the basis of music it presents to the people a beautiful and noble life and teaches them a lot about their life and struggle. That is why everyone likes opera. As a mixed art that incorporates all the forms of theatrical art it constitutes a criterion for evaluating the level of a country،¯s art and has a major effect on developing theatrical art in general. In accordance with the line of building Juche national culture, strenuous efforts were made in our country after liberation to create a new style of national opera which is national in form and democratic in content and, in the course of this, operas of various forms were created. These operas, being products of their own efforts and talents, were a source of pride for our artists who had not created even one opera worth mentioning before liberation due to the colonial policy of obliterating our national culture pursued by the Japanese imperialists. However, the operas produced during the periods of peaceful, democratic development, the Fatherland Liberation War and postwar reconstruction were based mainly on legends or historical tales, and their forms failed to cater to the tastes and sentiments of our people in many respects. The reason for the defects revealed in the creation of national operas in the past was that some artists and writers were steeped in outdated ideas. Those who retained the tendency to return to the past, claiming that the national opera should, as a matter of course, be Changkuk (a classical Korean opera?Tr.) consisting of Pansori (a kind of narrative song sung in a hoarse voice by Korean aristocrats in the feudal age), were opposed to modernizing Changkuk as required by the period; those who were infected with flunkeyism and dogmatism, claiming that operas should naturally be of a Western style, tried to copy the pattern of Western operas. They did not perceive the magnificent reality of the Chollima age vibrant with miraculous events and innovations, but tried to produce operas which dealt only with the lives of emperors and princesses of the past or love affairs. In postwar years when flunkeyism, dogmatism and the tendency to return to the past were rife, our Party launched a powerful struggle to establish Juche in all fields of art and literature, including opera. In the course of this struggle the tendency to deal exclusively with mythical, legendary and historical themes was overcome and operas began to depict the lives of our people who were working for the revolution and socialist construction. The replacement of the anachronistically obsolete themes, that had suited the period when people wore horsehair hats and rode donkeys, with socialist events in operas marked a milestone in the development of art and literature in our country. However, no such change as took place in the content of opera was evident in its form. Because still then the creative workers considered it impossible to produce operas without arias or recitatives, nobody thought of effecting a radical change in the form of opera. In consequence, although an innovation had been made in the content of opera, its form still remained within the framework of the old pattern. This resulted in a discrepancy between the content and the form. Under the Sunshine, produced by the then State Opera Troupe, for instance, was outmoded in its form in spite of its revolutionary content. In art the form must undergo continuous change to suit its new content. As the form expresses the content and is determined by it, it should, if it does not agree with the new content, be changed accordingly. Only through the unity of content and form in art can the ideological and artistic qualities be integrated properly. That is why a revolution had to be effected in the form of opera. An opera revolution to break the old pattern of conventional opera and create a new style of opera was a pressing demand that brooked no further delay. The opera of a new style could only be completed when the old pattern, which had been polished and hardened in a way best suited to the tastes and feelings of the exploiting classes over a long period, was discarded and a new form was created to suit the socialist content. Our Party put forward the policy of doing away with everything obsolete that suited the interests and tastes of the exploiting classes in all fields of art and literature and of building Juche art and literature which agreed with the requirements of our age and with the nature of the working class, and conducted a revolution firstly in the sphere of the cinema, one of the powerful means of educating the masses, and then in the sphere of the opera.
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