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| Ahn Sook-sun |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Master pansori singer Ahn Sook-sun, 69, wraps up this eventful year with a complete singing of "Simcheong-ga," a well-known pansori piece about filial love, piety and perseverance, with four of her disciples for the year-end "Complete Performance of Pansori" at the Haneul Theater of the National Theater of Korea (NTOK) on Mount Nam on Dec. 27. Pansori is a traditional Korean narrative form of music, sometimes compared to opera.
Ahn is a trained practitioner of "gayageum sanjo and byeongchang," Important Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 23, singing while playing the "gayageum" (12-stringed zither) and the only pansori singer to perform all five existing pansori pieces at the NTOK's "The Complete Performance of Pansori" since 1986.
The Intangible Cultural Property title holder will sing the Gangsan version of "Simcheong-ga," developed by Park Yu-jeon, a pansori master of Seopyeonje style at the end of the 19th century. The Gangsan style is known for its understated characteristics.
"Simcheong-ga" revolves around Sim Cheong, a girl who sacrifices herself to restore her father's eyesight. She voluntarily becomes a sacrifice for the King of the Sea so sailors can pass through the rough seas, but the King of the Sea sends her back where she meets the king and becomes a queen.
The highlight of this pansori is the last scene in which devoted daughter Sim Cheong reunites with her blind father and he regains his eyesight.
"Ahn picked Simcheong-ga as the blind man makes atonement for his daughter and becomes a mature human in the story, hoping for the audiences to close the year, leaving the frustrations behind and starting the New Year as a better person," an NTOK official said.
The four students of Ahn who will join the year-end concert are Seo Jung-kum of the National Changgeuk Company of Korea, Busan-based pansori singer Park Sung-hee, Jindo-based performer Heo Jeong-seung and Park Ja-hee, professor of the Traditional Cultural Foundation Gifted Training Center.
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