Emperor's new groove

International team brings Tan Dun's world premiere opera to a movie theater near you

NEW YORK -- Composer-conductor Tan Dun likes to say of his new opera, "The First Emperor": "The loudest sound can be heard only in silence." Now that the press has pronounced judgment on his work, commissioned by New York's Metropolitan Opera, observers must wonder if he would like to recast that epigram. Perhaps something along the lines of "silence the loudest sounds."

After "The First Emperor" received its world premiere Dec. 21 to a sold-out house at the Met, following months of laudatory features in the international press, American critics began to pile on with mostly mixed reviews.

"The more 'The First Emperor' sounds like 'Crouching Tiger,' the better [it sounds]," said New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini, referring to Tan's Oscar- and Grammy-winning score for Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (1992). "The more it sounds like an updated 'Turnadot,' the more tedious it becomes."

In the Los Angeles Times, critic Mark Swed wrote: "There are passages in this opera of rare beauty. But Tan's attempts to give Chinese twists to Italianate vocal lines is rarely graceful. The text is often surprisingly trivial, and the strange musical accents throw off [the singers'] delivery."

And from the Washington Post's Philip Kennicott: "It is an opera to be reckoned with, but hard to love."

Operagoers can judge for themselves when the Met presents "The First Emperor" at movie theaters nationwide (including three in the Chicago area) Saturday as part of its new "Live in HD" series. The matinee also will be heard over on the Met's International Radio Network (which includes WFMT-FM, 98.7) and over the Met's Channel 85 on Sirius Satellite Radio (which also will broadcast the last performance on Jan. 25).

Whatever the final verdict, there's no questioning that "The First Emperor" remains one of classical music's biggest events of recent years. Commissioned in 1996 by Met music director James Levine, the opera attracted an all-star team: acclaimed film director Zhang Yimou, whose credits include "House of Flying Daggers" (2002), "Hero" (2004) and the just-released "Curse of the Golden Flower"; novelist Ha Jin, a National Book Award winner for Waiting (1999), who co-wrote the English-language libretto with Tan; set designer Fan Yue; lighting designer Duane Schuler, a mainstay at Lyric Opera of Chicago; costume designer Emi Wada, an Oscar winner for Akira Kurosawa's "Ran" (1986). Plus, Tan himself, a recipient of the Grawemeyer Award, classical music's most prestigious prize. Tan also is conducting all nine performances of "The First Emperor," an honor bestowed on only five artists (the last was in 1940, Italo Montemezzi for "L'Amore dei Tre Re").

In addition, the luminary cast features tenor Paul Groves (who sang in Gluck's "Iphigenie en Tauride" at Lyric Opera this season); soprano Elizabeth Futral, a Ryan Center alumna; mezzo soprano Susanne Mentzer, a favorite of local operagoers; mezzo soprano Michelle De Young, who sang Sieglinde in Lyric's 2005 "Ring" cycle; bass Hao Jiang Tian, and Beijing Opera star Wu Hsing-Kuo.

In the title role is the opera world's reigning "emperor," Placido Domingo.

His participation came to Tan in a dream. In a news conference here last month, Tan said, "I told my wife 14 years ago that it was my wish to write an opera for Placido Domingo, who I consider the greatest opera singer of all."

Though Domingo made his Met debut 40 years ago, he had never sung in a world-premiere production there. "It's such an important milestone for me," said Domingo, who appeared at the press conference in full "First Emperor" regalia. "I'm so glad to have this opportunity while I am still singing," a hint that at nearly 66, retirement looms for even this most prodigious of artists, who boasts more than 125 roles in his repertoire.

"The First Emperor" tells the story of a landmark figure little known in the West: the despotic Qin Shi Huang, who ruled from 221 to 206 B.C. During his reign, he unified China, developed a common language and currency, and ordered the construction of the Great Wall. His rule took on added interest with the discovery in 1974 of giant terra-cotta soldiers guarding his tomb.

In Tan's opera, Emperor Qin struggles to establish a sense of national identity and asks his childhood friend Gao Jianli (Groves) to write an anthem to achieve this purpose. Meanwhile, the composer Gao, who resents the king, seduces the emperor's daughter (Futral) and tragedy ensues. If this sounds melodramatic, then consider the source material: the Chinese movie "The Emperor's Shadow" (1996).

Tan wrote his score, which draws on Italian lyricism and Asian rhythms, for two orchestras, the Western-style ensemble in the pit and an onstage group of Chinese instruments such as ceramic chimes, giant bells, a zheng (zither), waterphones and drums played with stones rather than sticks. But he doesn't view his work as favoring either an Eastern or Western musical tradition. "I don't think of this as a Chinese opera," he said. "You'll hear things behind the notes. It's music as a bridge that reaches the deeper side of humanity and spirituality."

It's also a voyage of self-discovery for the composer, who labored in rice paddies during the Cultural Revolution and had never heard of Mozart until he started his formal music studies. When he applied to Beijing's Central Conservatory in the mid-'70s after Mao's death, "they asked me about Mozart, and I said, who's he?"

After resettling in the States 20 years ago, Tan earned a doctorate at Columbia University. He retains his impish sense of humor. Offering his "loudest sound" observation, he quipped: "That sounds like a quote from Chen Kaige," referring to the director of "Farewell, My Concubine" (1993).

As for the quest of self-discovery, "It's not about being Chinese or Western, about being old or new," Tan explained in the Met's program notes. "My favorite formula now is 1 + 1 = 1." In other words, "I add my past [lives] and current ones together onstage."

At the Met's press conference, Zhang emphasized a related point, the growth of a universal artistic culture: "That the Met invited a Chinese team to stage a new work is indicative of social change," he said. The melding of two cultures is a great leap forward."

Picking up on this theme, Tan added: "I am looking forward to a wonderful spiritual journey. It is just the beginning of world culture becoming one culture: ours."

lemerick@suntimes.com