One key to the ongoing success of composer
Tan Dun has been his versatility. His music always seems new as he masters styles ranging from film music (in his biggest hit, the score to
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) to avant-garde devices of various kinds, to Western and Chinese opera and Chinese folk styles. In
Buddha Passion, he adds on a few more, including Mongolian throat singing and the big post-Romantic choral oratorio style. The work is based on some murals
Tan Dun encountered in caves in western China. Each one depicts a little story, summarized by a moral lesson that corresponds to the last movement of the work's six "acts" (despite the terminology, it is really more of an oratorio than an opera, with no dramatic development). It is a bit overblown in spots, and it is hefty at an hour and 40 minutes, but it is quite an exciting work that has already been widely performed; live performances include a pipa player/dancer for which a visual option in the recording release might have been desirable. The performers are very strong, especially soprano
Sen Guo, who must handle both Western and Chinese styles. The most exciting thing is that
Tan Dun brings many of the strands of his music together here and that they cohere. There are plenty of non-Western elements along the way, although the final "Nirvana" is Western in style, serving as a resolution of the contrasts. The sequence of events is one that will linger in the mind and, one suspects, lead to repeat performances to a degree rare for a contemporary work. The album landed on classical best-seller charts in the summer of 2023. ~ James Manheim
