Pansori

Kind of on a pansori kick these days - I wish I understood Korean so I could get this pretty narrative musical genre in the way it's intended. Even so, the emotion is so raw, and the vocal technique so amazing, that I'm hooked even without the narrative meaning. I managed to scratch the pansori itch, at least a bit, by finding the 1993 movie, Seopyeonje (a surprise hit in Korea given its focus on this old-fashioned music) in its entirety - and with English subtitles - on YouTube. A few scenes from the movie:


There are some great videos of pansori masters on YouTube, but I also like this joker's mashup with a movie about an 18th century Italian castrato - very silly: