Tan Dun: Ghost Opera
List Price:
Our Price: $6.18
You Save: $4.80 (44%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.75 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Brand: KRONOS QUARTETEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1997-03-18
Music Label: Nonesuch
Soundtracks:
- Ghost Opera For String Quartet And Pipa With Water, Stones, Paper, And Metal: Act I: Bach, Monks, And Shakespeare Meet In Water
- Ghost Opera For String Quartet And Pipa With Water, Stones, Paper, And Metal: Act II: Earth Dance
- Ghost Opera For String Quartet And Pipa With Water, Stones, Paper, And Metal: Act III: Dialogue With 'Little Cabbage'
- Ghost Opera For String Quartet And Pipa With Water, Stones, Paper, And Metal: Act IV: Metal And Stone
- Ghost Opera For String Quartet And Pipa With Water, Stones, Paper, And Metal: Act V: Song oOf Paper
Music reviews of Tan Dun: Ghost Opera
Music Review: The Ghosts are in your memory!
Rating: 4 Stars
Three disclaimers to start my review:
1. I like Avant-Grade/Experiental music.
2. I adore Chinese music!
3. I generally do NOT like Tan Dun's music.
That said, I have listened through Tan Dun's "Ghost Opera" five times in a row since I purchased it. To neatly pigeonhole it, the music is experimental, multi-cultural and for lack of a better term, "post modern." Tan Dun is one of the best-known representatives of the "Sent Down"/"New Wave" generation of composers. (Others include the CHEN Yi, ZHOU Long, CHEN Qigang, HE Xiantian and GUO Wenjing). Growing up during the Cultural Revolution, these young men and women were sent into China's hinterlands both to represent the revolutionary values of the Party and to share in the experiences of the peasants first hand. These musically gifted teenagers absorbed - and several of them catalogued and transcribed -hundreds of folk songs. When the Cultural Revolution ended, this same group was among the first students admitted to China's newly re-opened conservatories and universities and were the first to have exposure to the modern music of the west.
TAN Dun is certainly more fortunate than most of his generation, is better marketed and is a bit of a musical chameleon in comparison. His scores for Hero, Crouching Tiger and most recently The Banquet are very different from his "concert" music. Yet there are similarities. What sounds audacious in a concert is perfectly suitable in a soundtrack for a epic martial arts film.
I do not know if TAN Dun would agree, but upon my listening to this piece, I found that the "Ghosts" alluded to in the title are indeed, the Ghosts of Memory. Passages of Bach weave in and out of textures generated both by natural sounds (TAN's signature use of water sounds...), traditional Chinese gestures (brilliantly performed by WU Man on the Pipa) and extended playing techniques from the Kronos Quartet. The use of the voice - often in hushed whispers or fragmentary vocalizations - is ANYTHING but jarring. To even suggest that this music may have been influenced by Peking Opera is ill-informed. This music sounds more like George Crumb at his most "oriental", poetic and dream-like rather than anything you'd ever hear in Chinatown.
FINAL WORDS: While not a fan of this composer, I found the music poetic, creatively scored, brilliantly performed, at times quite beautiful and profoundly sad. To the ignoramus who likened this to Kabuki, well, first off Kabuki is JAPANESE! This composer is from CHINA! I think there is a difference! And whoever heard "yowling"... what were YOU listening to? JEESH!
Description of Tan Dun: Ghost Opera
Written by Chinese composer Tan Dun, this is a dramatic five-movement composition for string quartet and pipa (a relative of the lute), with vocalizations and percussive effects from water, metal, stone and paper, performed on this recording by Wu Man.Genre: Classical Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 18-MAR-1997
Classical CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Classical CDs
Winterscapesby London Philharmonic
Prophetic Voice; Published: 2000-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops:
The Queen, the Bear, & the Bumblebeeby Dini Petty
Children's Group; Published: 2001-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.38
Price in other shops:
Classical Kids - Beethoven Lives Upstairs CdrRelease date: 2000-04-05; Music CD
Best price: $24.98
Tchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos))by Malcolm Sinclair, Jeremy Siepmann
Naxos; Published: 2003-11; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $35.99
![Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS] Image](/images/Jose-Carreras-Jubileum-Concert-VHS-1584481471-X.jpg){kind=small}
Jose Carreras - Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS]Sling Shot; Release date: 2000-04-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.86
Price in other shops:
![Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS] Image](/images/Tchaikovsky-The-Nutcracker-Nureyev-Park-Royal-Ballet-VHS-156127092X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-09-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.89
Price in other shops:
![Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS] Image](/images/Lonely-Town-Lonley-Street-Sergeant-Early-Dream-VHS-1561270857-X.jpg){kind=small}
Rambert Dance Company - Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-10-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
Winter Music: Composing the Northby John Luther Adams
Wesleyan; Published: 2004-11-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $21.91
Price in other shops:
![Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] Image](/images/Puccini-La-Fanciulla-del-West-Santi-Domingo-Neblett-Royal-Opera-Covent-Garden-VHS-0769720382-X.jpg){kind=small}
Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $6.38
Price in other shops:
![Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] Image](/images/Verdi-Falstaff-Giulini-Bruson-Ricciarelli-Nucci-Royal-Opera-Covent-Garden-VHS-0769720358-X.jpg){kind=small}
Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops:
Similar CDs
Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers MeetRelease date: 2002-04-16; Music CD
Best price: $8.87
Price in other shops:
Tan Dun: Bitter LoveRelease date: 1999-08-17; Music CD
Best price: $2.83
Price in other shops:
Eric Whitacre - Light & GoldRelease date: 2010-10-19; Music CD
Best price: $10.63
Price in other shops:
Wu Man - Pipa from a DistanceRelease date: 2003-04-15; Music CD
Best price: $5.76
Price in other shops:
Reich: Different Trains, Electric Counterpoint / Kronos Quartet, Pat MethenyKRONOS QUARTET/METHE; Release date: 1990-10-25; Published: 1989; Music CD
Best price: $11.50
Price in other shops:
Wu Man with guests Kronos String Quartet - Immeasurable LightRelease date: 2010-10-05; Music CD
Best price: $14.55
Price in other shops:
Tan Dun - Martial Arts TrilogyRelease date: 2011-07-19; Music CD
Best price: $8.76
Price in other shops:
Kronos Quartet - Terry Riley: The Cusp of MagicRelease date: 2008-02-05; Music CD
Best price: $7.88
Price in other shops:
Kronos Quartet : Winter Was HardRelease date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $13.50
Price in other shops:
Tan Dun: Symphony 1997 (Heaven, Earth, Mankind)Release date: 1997-07-01; Music CD
Best price: $4.49
Price in other shops: