Thursday January 25, 2007 - Wei & I have enjoyed Zhang Yimou's films and Tan Dun's scores over the last decade so it seemed like a good idea to get tickets for FIRST EMPEROR when it was announced. In the interim I heard the second act of the opera's premiere on a webcast and didn't like it very much. Though the opera was repeated on the Internet and on radio, I avoided listening again so as not to develop further prejudices against the piece before seeing it.
The Met was packed last night, with a huge contingent of Asian folks on hand. They viewed the work in attentive silence and greeted the artists and composer/conductor at the end with warmth but not with passion. I did notice many empty seats around us after the intermission, and must admit my immediate desire after the Act I curtain fell was to leave. But Wei thought we should give it a chance and so, though it meant a very late night, we stayed to the end. I found I enjoyed the second act far more than I had on the webcast, and far more than the first act.
East meets West can work out delightfully (look at Wei & me, for instance) but the fusion of Chinese and Western operatic styles seems a bit jarring at first. I must admit that the Peking-Opera-style opening sequence of the piece, in which the Yin-Yang Master sets the stage, seemed overly-long; the role was excellently performed by Wu Hsing-Kuo but I found his singing annoying after a few minutes.
The first act seemed very 'grey' both visually and musically; I felt the music had a great sameness about it...no peaks or valleys, just sort of a lulling effect. Beautifully crafted and scenically impressive, the piece made me feel sleepy. After the break, the staging became more colourful and the singers seemed to have more opportunities to shine, which they seized greedily. The chorus has much to do (I have heard stories of the choristers hatred of the piece not just musically but because of their synchronized gestures which were sometimes flubbed last night.)
Overall my impression was that the story & dramatic situations were not compelling and that the opera has intriguing sections but could be judiciously cut (I understand the phenomenal dance sequence, performed by Dou Dou Huang, was pared down after the premiere.) I would begin by eliminating a long sequence in which maidens assist Gao Jianli in a change of clothing while a huge bell is struck repeatedly. This seemed superfluous. And endless.
I have been 'with' Placido Domingo since his earliest days at NYC Opera. Show of hands: how many people saw Placi as Don Ottavio? I did. There were times in those first seasons I thought his voice was doomed: constant cracking on notes above A. But he solidified his instrument (the top has never been his 'thing') and went on to become one of the great performers of our time. In the Tan Dun opera, crafted for him, Domingo in his late 60s shows a beautifully burnished timbre of unmistakable warmth and generosity. His singing was expressive & at times movingly tender.
For me the vocal wonder of the evening was Sarah Coburn as the Princess Yueyang. Her wonderfully full, lyric tone carries up to the highest register and fell far more pleasantly on the ear than Elizabeth Futral's voice on the webcast. Coburn is a lovely, slender stage figure as well. In a debut, tenor Marc Heller as the composer Gao Jianli sometimes seemed stretched by the music but gave a strong & committed performance. Ning Liang, absent from the Met for several seasons, was very fine in the East-West-vocal-fusion role of the Shaman, making a better impression than Michelle DeYoung had in this music on the webcast. Haijing Fu sang beautifully as the Chief Minister; too bad his role disappears after Act I. It was nice to see Susanne Mentzer on the Met stage again. The stalwart basso Hao Jiang Tian was moving in his ghostly appearance as general Wang, Yueyang's rejected suitor.
This is the cover photograph (by Christian Steiner) from Mr. Tian's generous Naxos CD of arias (catalog #8.557442) which includes some less-familiar pieces from Verdi's JERUSALEM and Massenet's LE CID along with the more normal basso fare.
It's my understanding that EMPEROR will be back next season and then travel to Beijing for the Olympics. I would guess a DVD might be in the offing.
Footnote: There was a momentary ripple of laughter from the audience when the crippled Princess Yueyang suddenly finds herself able to walk after her sexual encounter with Gao Jianli.
Good, honest review. Regarding the seemingly endless costume change w/ Gao Jianli and the maidens in white in Act 2: I think that scene is purposely dragged out (and drag it does) in order to allow all the chorus to change into their costumes and to assemble themselves onstage behind the curtain. Regarding the ripple of laughter when Yueyang regains the ability to walk: you should have seen the smile on my face in the theatre when that happened. It's SO over the top and salaciously ridiculous. And then it turns into something really beautiful. That's good opera.
Posted by: Chalkenteros | January 26, 2007 at 03:36 PM
What else should be eliminated or pared down? I understand the dancer's solo was much longer originally; he performed brilliantly but is it essential to the opera?
I like Haijing Fu and thought the duet of Coburn & Mentzer was attractive, but are the Fu & Mentzer roles necessary?
Another question: if you just watched this opera without reading the program notes or using Met titles, would you really understand it? Even if all the singers had comprehensible diction?
Posted by: philip | January 26, 2007 at 04:25 PM
I think that the role of Yueyang's mother needs to be cut entirely. Either that, or give her a more significant function. Also, some of the percussive and more Eastern sounding scene-transition music might become better integrated into the scenes themselves: they provided some of the evening's best music, but they too often seem relegated to the interludes. Finally, the ending needs to be trimmed. I love the two ghost arias, but after that, the final scene drags.
Posted by: Chalkenteros | January 26, 2007 at 06:51 PM
You wrote this review so well! I saw it the night it opened, and hated it. I totally agree with Chalkenteros, the mothers role was pointless.
I had to use the MET titles when I saw it, especially for Domingo and his accent. The first few minutes of the first act I had them turned off and I was completely lost!
Posted by: Ariel | January 29, 2007 at 11:17 PM
Ariel, I was thinking the same thing: without thoroughly reading the program notes and without the MET titles, the opera makes very little sense!
Posted by: philip | January 30, 2007 at 08:34 AM