TEOCHEW ON ODEON
According to the WordPress Blog statistics, the most common search term that brings people to this blog is “Teochew Opera”. So here’s another one for the Teochew fans out there.
A common complaint is that all Teochew Opera sounds the same (which has some truth to it) but this record certainly stands out …I’m not sure what to say except that this is a very unusual sounding record!
The title is Tio Mou Seng Tong Sok (Man Trapped in Snow).
UPDATE: Reader Javier Li Yong-En (and his Mom!) informs us that the trumpet sound here is a Har To (or Hao Tou) which is commonly used to accompany onstage action in military or court scenes. He adds that this is a recording by a defunct opera troupe from Singapore called Lao Gek Chuong Hiang. He also sends a photo he took of the Har To. He disagrees that this is an uncommon sounding recording, but I have at least 50 Teochew 78’s but not a single one sounds like this. Thanks Javier!
>ODEON 20227136a
TEOCHEW ON PAGODA
Pagoda was a great label that was most likely a subsidiary Deutsche-Grammophon along with Polyphon and Hindenburg. Pagoda seems to consist mostly of Teochew Opera from southern China. Unfortunately, I broke the Pagoda record I wanted to post while trying to get it’s too small spindle hole to fit on the turntable…so this is the runner up!
Performed by the Old Choy Bo Fung troupe. (thanks to Patrick Lau for translation.)
>PAGODA V 3912a
TEOCHEW OPERA FROM SOUTHERN CHINA
October 9, 2007, 9:52 pm
Filed under:
Teochew Opera | Tags:
78 rpm,
78rpm,
Amoy Opera,
beijing opera,
cantonese opera,
Chinese music,
chinese opera,
erhu,
Peking Opera,
Southeast Asian music,
teochew 
Here’s a beautiful and hypnotic Teochew Opera on the obscure Tiger label. Teochew is a Chinese dialect from the Guangdong region of Southern China. The Teochew music bears more resemblance to Southeast Asian music than other Chinese opera forms, especially the Peking opera (in fact, this was recorded in Thailand according to one of our readers, see comments for further info). This record is a great example of the measured rhythm and clear melody of the Teochew style, with little of the wild percussive effects of the Peking style. During the 18th-20th centuries there was much emigration from Guangdong into Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and elsewhere in the region and a healthy Teochew Opera scene existed in those places until recently.
>TIGER 1048D
