Ma Lianliang

 

中国戏曲艺术家唱腔选(二): 京剧――马连良

            Chinese Opera Artists Singing Selections (II): Beijing Opera - Ma Lianliang 

 China Record Co., 1983, DM 6229

Ma Lianliang was famous for his roles as ''old men with a beard''; I already posted a double cassette about him in November 2021. Most of the actors used to specialize in certain characters; ''laosheng'' is the name of that character of the old man with a black or white beard in Beijing opera. It is said that Ma based his style of singing on Tan Xinpei's (1847-1917).
This is a compilation of recordings made in the 50s and 60s with extracts from 6 operas.

On side A :

track 1 : 借东风 (taking advantage of the East wind recorded in 1959)

tracks 2 and 3 : 四进士 (the four masters in 1963)

track 4 : 赵氏孤儿 (the orphan of the Zhao in 1961)

Side B : 

track 1 : 甘露寺 (Ganlu Temple in 1961)

tracks 2 and 3 : 打登州 (Playing Dengzhou in  1955)

tracks 4 and 5 : 空城计 (The  Empty City ruse in 1962)

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Chez les Esquimaux Netsiligmiout

 

CHEZ LES ESQUIMAUX NETSILIGMIOUT

Arctique Central Canadien

enregistrement réalisé par Jean-Noël Malaurie
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  AMONG THE NETSILIGMIOUT ESKIMOS

Central Canadian Arctic

recordings made by J.N Malaurie

Le Chant du Monde,  1965, LDZ.S 4284

This is an excellent example of what some French labels were careful to publish during the 60s at a time when Inuit culture was completely ignored by the Western public. 
J.-N. Malaurie born in 1922 conducted 31 missions in the Inuit world (Greenland, Canada, Alaska and USSR) from 1948. He wrote a book, now a best seller, ''Les Derniers Rois de Thulé'' published by Plon in 1955; it was probably the first time that French people could read and discover the life and all the problems faced by the Inuit since their first contacts with Westerners.
Here we can listen to a story about Kivioq a legendary hero, some incantatory chants, hunting songs and some accordion music. The album starts with the cries of dogs at night. Most of the recordings were made at Igloolik near Baffin Island between 1962 and 1963.
As it is said in the French text the Inuk society has attempted to integrate into the modern world since World War II but is still facing problems of heavy drinking, drug consumption, loss of its language and traditions by the younger generations etc... Now this territory is part of Nunavut an autonomous region created in 1999 where a local government can act in favor of the Inuit.
We know that Inuit have lived there for at least 4000 years despite terrible weather conditions developing a unique culture in the world.  Cultural diversity is as much paramount as the biological diversity and the present situation in the Arctic should really alert us and  push us to change our lifestyles. But can we really ??

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