It was a hop, skip, and a jump out of The Traverse Theatre for NTS: Thrown, and into the Usher Hall stalls this August 6th for the official opening of the Edinburgh International Festival. The packed seats were in for an epic treat, presided over with enthusiastic mastery by Composer and Conductor Tan Dun. His Buddha Passion seeks to bridge Eastern and Western artistic traditions by taking key elements of the life, and teachings of Gautama Buddha, and setting these to a score fusing the classical, contemporary, and traditional.
Effectively an opera in 6 thematically linked acts, ‘The Buddha Passion’ begins by following young Prince Siddhartha into his 7 week meditation beneath the Bodhi tree, and discovering the equality of life which disregards species. It, like each act is concluded by an ode expositing the values embodied in the narrative. Four parable-esque tales follow, before the final act returns us to the life of Buddha, now facing the terminus of his physical existence and anticipating Nirvana.
The entire piece is a singular musical experience, a marriage of musical ideas, rich with eastern motifs any non-native composer would rightly fear to employ. Such is the building, sweeping, melodic breadth of the score, that I found myself put in mind of the glorious soundtrack which accompanied ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.’ Reader, I confess my ignorance, as it was only in post-concert research that I discovered Tan Dun was indeed the composer of that cinematic masterpiece’s score.
The standard of vocal talent assembled to deliver Tan Dun’s opus was simply magnificent. An outstanding quartet embodied the majority of characters: Louise Kwong (Soprano), Samantha Chong (Mezzo Soprano) and Chen Chen (Tenor), pick up awards the way the typical Fringe punter acquires flyers. Completing the four was Grammy-Award winning Baritone international superstar Elliot Madore. The preponderance of the Buddha Passion’s weighty characters (monarchs, and The Buddha) ascribed to Madore weighed him down not even a little. This is an accomplished performer who breathes meaning effortlessly into his beautiful tones. His trio of colleagues were, however, never outshone, a testament to their abilities. Kwong possesses a beautiful, and lyrical soprano, Chong‘s voice is rich and alive with possibility, whilst Chen Chen makes light, and expressive work of every note.
The opening concert was also graced by three further star artists, who feature on the recording of Tan Dun’s Buddha Passion, released on 4 days ago! These proved very much the ‘special operations’ team, brought in to fulfil specific roles – no doubt due to their individual, and aptitudes. Bringing exquisite motion to the stage, fantan dancer Chen Yining graced the opening to Act III: Thousand Arms and Thousand Eyes, caressing and playing her stringed Pipa with eye-catching dexterity.
However, for those fortunate enough to have been in that Usher Hall audience, it will be Batubagen and Tan Weiwei’s concert stealing vignette comprising Act V: Heart Sutra, which remains with them. The former, adept in khoomei overtone singing, created his itinerant monk with uniquely groaning, sonorous chant, and the wonderful resonance of his Mongolian morin khuur. However, it was the stately, Tan WeiWei, attired in flowing white, to whom all eyes stuck. Perhaps the most famous folk/traditional singer in China, her doomed, romantic heroine Nina raised every hair in the house with singularly beautiful, and plaintive song.
It’s safe to say the Royal Scottish National Orchestra had a fabulous time under Tan Dun’s energised conducting. They embraced the lush, melodic, sensitivity which permeates much of the score, but there was no disguising the relish with which all bore down on the grand, symphonic, and frankly stirring finales, particularly at the close of Act II: The Deer of Nine Colors. Perhaps most particular in the instrumentation is the percussion which found a 5 strong team embedded amidst all sorts of instruments ranged across the back rows of the orchestra. At one stage a bowl of water takes the percussive fore, cups impacting upon the surface, and strainers pouring it out in rivulets to create a magical soundscape.
Maybe the ‘Passion’ connection is more orchestral than thematic, for whilst the piece does conclude with the Buddha’s transcendence, the narrative progress is more an anthology of short stories, than a tracing of one life, or death. To a crowd mostly reliant on super titles, it isn’t always clear whether there is more narrative link between the acts than their suitability as ‘teachable moments’. It’s not explicit, for example that the Deer of Nine Colours is a prior incarnation of Buddha, or whether this matters to proceedings. These structural quirks are ultimately no barrier to a memorably epic night of deeply meaningful music, not least due to the RSNO Youth Chorus under Patrick Barrett, and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus under Aidan Oliver. Their performance in languages unknown to probably all of them before rehearsals proved nothing less than heroic. A dual thumbs up from Tan Dun to close spoke volumes of his own opinion.
All in all this was a singularly special concert with which to launch the 2023 Edinburgh International Festival. As statements of intent, the Edinburgh International Festival’s determination to remain at the pinnacle of the international cultural calender could be no clearer.
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