朝日新聞 田月仙さん オペラ歌手(ひと)  ■南北朝鮮での舞台は日本で生かせますか
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 声楽家にとって、歌声を奏でる自分の体は楽器そのものだ。その体が在日コリアン二世であることが、悲しみも喜びも生んだ。
 両親とも韓国・慶尚南道出身。東京に生まれ、高校卒業にあたる年まで朝鮮学校で民族教育を受けた。「日本で暮らすかぎりは、日本で学べる音楽のすべてを吸収したい」と日本の音大を志したが、受験直前に「高卒の資格はない」と門前払いされた。
 父の事業の失敗とも重なり、アルバイトをして学費をつくり、桐朋学園短大に入学。
八三年にデビューした時からは、「南北の舞台を踏んで、祖国が一つであることを確認したい」と思い続けた。
 朝鮮民主主義人民共和国(北朝鮮)の平壌で開かれた音楽祭に招待されたのが一九八五年。昨年秋には韓国・ソウルのオペラハウスで「カルメン」の主役を演じ、在日初の「南北公演」を果たした。
 分断した両国の舞台に立つことができたのは「在日だから」だったのかもしれない。
「朝鮮半島だけでなく、日本にも朝鮮民族の魂があるんだ」。歌声を通して、在日の存在感をアピールできたのがうれしかった。
 今度は「祖国は一つ」の思いを、在日にも届けたい。ずっと朝鮮籍だったのを、より自由な活動を求めて韓国籍に変えただけで、受け止め方が変わる周囲の現実は悲しい。
 日本人にも、在日がいまだに家族離散に苦しみ、戦後が決して終わっていないことを知ってほしい。「南北公演」以来、初めての本格的なリサイタルとなる五月十二日(東京・中野ゼロホール)には、日本の植民地下での抵抗の歌もそっと紛れ込ませながら「情熱の女」カルメンを舞う。
 「日本人に交じって一人でも多くの在日に私の歌を聴いてもらえれば。戦後五十年の、私なりのけじめです」
 チョン・ウォルソン 「オペラは総合芸術だから好き。得意な踊りも見てほしい」。
二期会所属。

オペラ歌手の田月仙さん 南北で歌って

 

□▽南北で歌って

 在日二世のオペラ歌手として、朝鮮民主主義人民共和国(北朝鮮)の平壌公演と韓国のソウル公演と南北で歌ったことのある田月仙さん(36)=写真=が五月十二日に、東京でオペラリサイタルを開く。

 「平壌は一九八五年の世界親善芸術祝典に招かれ、ソウルでは昨年秋の”カルメン”で主役を演じることができました」

 高校まではピアノをやっていたが、桐朋学園短大に入ってからオペラの魅力に取りつかれた。

 「オペラは歌だけではなく、役になりきる演技が求められます。そのへんが魅力でもあるんです」

 今回のリサイタルでは、コリア歌曲「高麗山河 わが愛」イタリア歌曲「踊りの歌」など五曲の歌曲シリーズが第一部。”カルメン”の有名なたばこ工場の場面を中心に、ハバネラ、ジプシーの歌など七曲が第二部という構成。

 「日本では、オペラはまだ一部のファンに支えられているのが現状です。親しみのある舞台で幅広いファンを育てたい」と抱負を語る。

共同通信社

 

チョン・ウォルソンがオペラリサイタル

12日に中野ゼロホールで

 在日韓国・朝鮮人として初めて、北朝鮮(朝鮮民主主義人民共和国)と韓国で歌っ たソプラノ歌手、チョン・ウォルソン(田月仙)=写真=が十二日、東京・中野ゼロ ホールでオペラリサイタルを開く。後半にはフラメンコも入ってビゼーのオペラ「カ ルメン」のハイライトを歌う本格的な公演。

 チョンは一九五八年、東京生まれ。両親が慶尚南道出身で、日本に来た在日二世。 桐朋学園短大で学んだ。一九八五年、平壌で開かれた「世界音楽祭」で朝鮮民謡など を歌い、金日成国家主席から名前が記された腕時計を贈られてもいる。また昨年十月 七日には、ソウルの「芸術の殿堂オペラハウス」で「カルメン」の主役を歌っている。 「在日だからこそ初めて実現できました。どちらも私の祖国ですから」と言う。

 今回のリサイタルも日韓協会と日朝協会東京都連合会両方の後援をもらっている。 「いまだに対立している面がある両方に聴きにきてほしい」と願う。そして前半に 「鳥よ鳥よ青い鳥よ」と「高麗山河 わが愛」二曲の朝鮮民謡と歌曲を入れ、彼女の メッセージを伝える。「私たちの畑を荒らさないでくれ」と歌う「鳥よ−」は、戦前、 鳥が日本を連想させるとして演奏禁止されていた作品。「高麗山河−」は、「南に住 もうが、北に住もうが愛する兄弟ではないか」という歌詞だ。

 後半は「カルメン」のハイライト。「たばこ工場のけんかのシーン」では、岩崎恭 子フラメンコ舞踊スタジオのメンバーも加わり、彼女の激しい踊りを見ることができ る。「小さいころからピアノや踊りを習っていました。大学に入って総合芸術のオペ ラこそ私を生かせると思いました。韓国人は感情が豊富でそれをコントロールします。 イタリア人とわりと近いところがあると思います。オペラ向きではないでしょうか」

 今後も“三つの国の掛け橋”として活動を続けるという。しかし「私は芸術家とし て水準の高いオペラ歌手になりたい。在日であることや、国籍は関係ありません。た だ問題は付き物で、真っすぐに受け入れて突き進むだけです」と話していた。

 

Opera Singer with an International Tone       Chon Wolson

 

It's a drama that I can best perform by singing," Chon Wol Son says, referring to the art of opera singing. Chon, a South Korean resident in Tokyo, a performer who exudes confidence and lives to be the perfect performer.

"No matter how beautiful the voice, one cannot communicate emotions such as grief, joy and jealousy to the audience if one does not become a part of the drama," Chon says. "I believe I do that."

Her recent recital in Tokyo testified to that self-confidence. The show, commorating the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, consisted of two parts. The first half was devoted to Korean, Spanish and other songs, while the second half featured Chon, singing the most climactic pieces of Bizet's "Carmen," a tragic love story of a Spanish gypsy and a corporal.

Few opera singers can (or bother to) dance during their performances. Chon, however, dances if that is what the role calls for. In "Carmen," she performed the flamenco during a fight scene between two groups of female tobacco workers. The spectacular performance was indeed unusual, considering the scene is usually performed by chorus members while Carmen sings.

Chon learned the fiamenco when preparing for a concert in Seoul in October 1994. "By incorporating dances into my performance, it's easier for me to show the audience what I have."

Chon's childhood was a foretelling of, or a prelude to, her present career. While attending Korean schools in Tokyo, she was enthralled with most performing arts and excelled at whatever she took on. She often performed Korean dances and songs, in addition to playing the piano and reciting poetry, for special events nized by Korean residents.

Thus, it was hardly surprising that she entered a highly competitive junior college affiliated with Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo after graduating from high school.

Though Chon first focused on playing the piano, she switched to singing at the suggestion of one of her teachers who said she was better suited to that considering her high singing scores.

While watching an opera one day, the pieces of Chon's future began to fall into place as she realized that opera contained all the elements of performing arts that she enjoyed -- dramatic stage sets, elements of theater, dancing, singing and orchestration.

From that time, she knew opera would best allow her to utilize her diverse talents

After finishing college, Chon continued her operatic studies at the Niki-kai, the nation's leading association of opera artists. In 1983, she made her professional debut, giving a series of recitals in Tokyo.

While Chon was born and raised in Tokyo, she refers to Japan as her "furusato," hometown, and considers North and South Korea her "sokoku," homeland. Unlike many South and North Koreans born in Japan, she never adopted a Japanese name.

"That's only natural to me," she says, "because I've never considered myself a Japanese."

Chon was registered as a North Korean by origin, even though her parents were from Kyongsangnamdo, a southern part of South Korea Shortly before her 1994 concert in Seoul, Chon said she changed her nationality from North Korean to South Korean because that was more convenient.

She had once hoped to study opera in Italy but was unable to because she couldn't get a passport. In those days, North Koreans were not allowed to enter Italy, she says.

While Chon says there was nothing unusual about her changing her nationality, some of her friends and acquaintances felt otherwise. "North Koreans in lapan were not pleased, while some South Koreans looked at me as though I were a convert," Chon says.

Chon said three concerts will forever burn in her memory: one in Pyongyang, one in Seoul and another in Tokyo. It was not until April 1985 that Chon was able to visit her North Korean homeland for the first time to perform in the World Music Festival in Pyongyang. "I was more than thrilled to sing before a large audience in my own country. It was wonderful to think that I had come this far as an opera singer," Chon says. "That was the best performance I've ever given."

Last October, Chon was invited to perform the lead role in "Carmen" at the Opera House in Seoul, the largest of opera house in Asia. "As a South Korean resident in Japan," she says, "I was so proud to sing before Koreans at the Opera House.

"I was overcome with deep emotions when I considered that I had performed in both the South and North."

Chon says her May recital in Tokyo was also an emotional experience and one of her best recitals yet. "Many South and North Koreans came to my performance," Chon says.

Commenting on Japanese opera singers, Chon says there are many who are excellent. Nonetheless, she feels there is something essentially different between Japanese and European opera singers.

Attending a concert in Russia, Chon heard an array of opera singers from a number of countries. She said each singer had a voice with its own distinct flavor and quality, reflecting their country of origin.

Chon's Taiwanese mentor has a voice on par with other top European singers. Even so, Chon says she has an air of "being Asian" when she performs alongside European singers.

These observations made her feel there was a limit to the quality and power of her voice. Compared to her Western contemporaries, Chon is small and has less lung capacity.

During her late 20s, Chon said it was extremely difficult cultivating a voice not easily labeled as Asian. This meant she had to unlearn years of carefully practiced techniques. In attempting to develop the quality of her voice, she said, "It was as if I had to destroy something that had-been completed."

At the age of 36, Chon says her vocalization is more international than many opera singers in Japan today. But Chon says she's still in a transition period.

"It takes both talent and constant effort to become a successful singer, but effort counts more." Pushing oneself is another type of talent, she says.

This may be particularly true of foreign residents in Japan. "Korean residents in Japan think they won'l make it here without skills that outshine their Japanese competition," Chon says.