Helpfully, statistics are kept as to the nationalities of the major competition finalists and winners over the decades. Korean musicians were barely making ripples in the international competition scene in 1995, and by 2011 they accounted for 378 finalists and 60 place-winners, tellingly, half of these were in the vocal segments. South Korea has a population of 50 million, yet it produces more prizewinners and laureates than USA or Russia.
I discovered a film called Le mystère musical coréen (the Korean musical mystery), a documentary by French filmmakers Thierry Loreau and Pierre Barré who set out, as I have (although they are much more industrious than me) to find out what is behind the artistic phenomenon that is Korea: they've come in out of nowhere and are TEARING UP the competition circuit. Loreau said, in a fairly wishy-washy interview, that Korean musicians excel because of their passion, courage and competitive spirit - but surely the same could be said about high achievers in every other country, including our very own?
What is so special about Korean opera singers?
The answer is, sadly, not so easily found (she says, having spent approximately 30 seconds typing "why so many korean opera singers" into google and browsing three articles that all fail to answer the question.) I have my own theories, two very basic ones really: 1) There is a strong culture of western classical music in South Korea. 2) Koreans tend to have squarer faces and higher cheekbones, like Joan Sutherland, creating an awesome resonating space. I'm not alone in my thinking, I pleasantly discovered, as I started questioning fellow opera singers, repetiteurs and other opera professionals.
CULTURE
Among the Korean middle class, having one's children learn an instrument is a status symbol. About 4,000 students majoring in Western classical music graduate from 87 universities in Korea every year, which is only about a tenth of the number who enrol in the programmes. Further education at a prestigious overseas university is useful on the CV for securing work back home, and for females, being a musician "adds to your dowry." One also hears (through the grapevine of course) that a male musician can avoid mandatory military service if he can leave the country long enough.
Korea has a rigorous work ethic and its students, across all faculties, rank among the best in the world. Private teachers (including itinerant music teachers) are well paid. Parents are highly interested and involved in their children's education and encourage the competitive nature of the beast. Intensive training systems allow youth with talent and potential to receive an early education, and all this is supported by the continued investment of the Korean regional government.
Korea's zeal for excellence and aptitude for artistic talent could also have economic factors. The highly respected Belgian classical music commentator Fred Brouwers identified the economic development of the country. "To me, music is closely linked to the standard of living and the economic development of a nation. In the wake of their strong markets, the country has not only seen potential in the production of cars and technology, but also in highly trained musicians.”
FACIAL STRUCTURE
It has been suggested that the Korean language itself, open and resonant, may lend itself nicely to romantic languages. In fact the word "resonant" keeps coming up again and again when discussing the Korean sound. Those typically round and square faces with wide high cheekbones are creating a great space for sound. While this face shape is certainly well-suited to classical singing, there are of course many exceptions.
It was also pointed out to me that the natives of another vocally rich country, Wales, may share some of the physical traits of Koreans. This is the politest way that I can say "the Welsh have big heads. Look at Bryn Terfel and Gwyneth Jones." However, don't make the mistake I did by heading to google images and typing in "welsh opera singers" because you'll only wind up with four million pictures of non-opera singer Katherine Jenkins.
Posted by Georgia Jamieson Emms