On returning from a day-trip to Pujon Country we made a short stop in Hamhung’s central square, over which towers the brutalist Hamhung Grand Theatre, without doubt the city’s grandest and most impressive building, up there with the grand edifices of Pyongyang. Continue reading “The Hamhung Grand Theatre and North Korean Revolutionary Opera”
Latvian National Opera
The distinctly neo-classical building that is now the Latvian National Opera and home to the Latvian National Opera and Ballet was designed by St Petersburg architect Ludwig Bohnstedt and built in 1863 as the Riga German Theatre, a German language theatre. A Russian language theatre, the Latvian National Theatre opened in 1902. At this time Latvia was part of the Russian Empire and German traders predominated in the business and financial life of the city, hence the need for Russian and German theatres. Continue reading “Latvian National Opera”
Some Revolutionary Opera?
Having read my review of the Korean Feature Film Studio, read of Kim Jong-il’s contribution to the cinema industry and the arts in general and seen various references to revolutionary army choirs, revolutionary operas and much, much, more in various of my reviews you will, by now, be very excited to know where you can partake of these things should you visit Pyongyang though, perhaps because three hours plus of revolutionary opera or lengthy non-subtitled movies might get a bit boring, they do not often appear on the itinerary of most visitors – as they didn’t on mine. Continue reading “Some Revolutionary Opera?”
The Rambling Wombat 