by Kay Curry
Southeast Asia Weekly
At the end of “The Passion of the Buddha”, Tan Dun thanked the symphony and the audience gave a standing ovation. Photo by Brandon Patoc, courtesy of the Seattle Symphony.
Witnessing Tan Dun’s “The Passion” is like being in a Tibetan Buddhist temple, a Christian chapel, or a church of nature.Performed Nov. 10-12 by the Seattle Symphony, with Tan conducting, the six-act “Passion” deftly incorporates Dharma
ka stories and messages of compassion in ancient Sanskrit songs and scriptures. It’s extravagant and understated, not unlike Tan himself.
A screen above the stage plays the script to the audience in English and Chinese. A convention used by opera houses from time to time, this is not what one would expect when visiting a symphony. Yet the Seattle Symphony is nothing if not an institution that routinely pushes boundaries and introduces new and exciting types of performance. The Passion is indeed an opera, combining Chinese and Western elements. The musicians are joined by several impressive vocalists, including baritone Elliott Madore, soprano Lei Xu, tenor Ellie and mezzo-soprano Megan Moore.
Also featured in the second half is Batubagen, a Khoomai overtone player whose Mongolian throat singing has rapidly become popular around the world.
This was just the beginning of what happened during “The Passion of the Buddha”. Behind the symphony is the Seattle Symphony Chorus, flanked by parts of the Northwest Boys’ Choir. In the third act, subtitled “Flying Pipa,” Chen Yining floats across the stage in a glittering costume like a celestial singing and dancing fairy. As the music and script tell a royal story, Chen deftly plays the pipa — sometimes on the back of her neck — while bending her body into stunning poses.In the fourth act, titled “Zen Garden,” Tan recreates the origins of Zen in Songshan, accompanied by koans or Zen riddles, while two symphony members play on large, transparent water bowls, imitating raindrops, waterfalls or trickle
Musicians and singers alike are pushed to the limit by Tan’s creative handling of sound. “Weekly” interviewed Olivia Zhou, who played viola for the symphony, and Wang Jiali, a pipa player and educator, about the feeling of playing Tan’s music.
“Tan Dun’s music is definitely very special and unique,” Wang said, referring to Tan Dun’s willingness to combine modern and traditional Chinese and Western music forms, which was not viewed positively in Tan Dun’s native China at first, but now Already gaining recognition, especially after the musical success of Tan’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Wang explained that Tan’s use of multiple sounds, especially percussion, is part of what sets him apart. On November 11, Chew and Wang performed another Tan production “Buddha Passion” and “Ghost Opera”, where Chew and Wang performed together on November 11, Tan used a variety of instruments from nature, such as Stone, paper and water. Not only did Wang and others have to play their instruments in new ways, but they also had to multitask.
“I would say that in many ways ‘Ghost Opera’ was probably one of the most difficult pieces I’ve had to piece together,” Chew admits. “There were so many things I just wasn’t used to.” In particular, Chew recounted how she learned to play with rocks.
“You lift a flat stone up to your mouth, and you change the shape of the mouth to tune its pitch. I’ve never done that before.”
For Chew, Tan holds great personal significance as she introduces his work through the film. In a family that doesn’t go to the cinema very much, in part because of the lack of representation on screen, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon “is kind of important” as a mainstream film with Chinese heritage. Zhou recalled that he was also moved by the music in “Heroes,” which Tan Dun wrote with Itzhak Perlman and KODO.
“This is the first time I’ve heard Chinese sounds, but played by western instruments…no one really likes it [Tan Dun]”
In Wang’s view, Tan’s use of natural objects to create sounds will be reminiscent of ancient Chinese rituals and rituals, older listeners will feel connected to home, and Western and younger Chinese listeners will be educated; Wang believes that although even Young people of Chinese origin can also recognize this music because it is “in our blood”.
Many of the sounds on “Buddha Passion” evoke both familiar and unfamiliar spaces—whether under a canopy of evergreens beside a rippling river, in the incense-filled rooms of a Tibetan monastery, or in the stones illuminated by stained glass. Interior of cathedrals of Europe. It is these sometimes dizzying, sometimes bewildering, and sometimes emotional combinations of Tan’s combinations that prompt the listener to enter a state of meditation.
The teachings contained in “Buddha’s scriptures” are full of compassion and self-sacrifice. These Sanskrit and Chinese texts are largely derived from long-forgotten texts in the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, China, an intricate complex of Buddhist buildings along the Silk Road. The stories they tell are part of the Buddhist canon, such as the many lives of the Buddha transmitted through the Jatakas. One of them, Buddha is Nine Colored Deer, who sacrificed herself to save a drowning man knowing he would betray her, but karma would catch up to him. In another story, Buddha is a lovely princess who gives her life for a woman in labor. Everyone on stage is involved in these stories, from the singers performing the dialogue, all the way to the stabbing deer, played by Xu Lei in a gorgeous, feathery white dress; And the cheering royal audience.
In the middle is Tan, leading the way with expressive gestures, his whole body seemingly brimming with the joy of telling a story—the story of Buddha and Buddhism—that has not only been lost in the Dunhuang Grottoes, but has been cast . Outside of secular China, it remains one of the most widespread religions in the world. Every movement and every sound of “Buddha Shou” has been carefully choreographed and very precise. The violin bows rise and fall with the rise and fall of the choir’s voice. At times, the composition is very modern and a bit confusing. At other times, Buddhist scriptures or classical Western rhythms and harmonies are reassuring. In the end, Tan thanked the participants, himself hiding behind the musicians until he was called to the front, receiving a prolonged standing ovation from the packed house.
Kai can reach info@nwasianweekly.com.
