Tan Dun’s ‘Martial Arts Trilogy’ :: 谭盾音乐会《武侠三部曲》

Was happy to have Esplanade peg Tan Dun’s ‘Martial Arts Trilogy’ 谭盾音乐会《武侠三部曲》on Offstage and stream it from 16 to 31 July. Tan Dun conducted the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra (previously known as 'Singapore Festival Orchestra') at these performances at Esplanade’s Huayi Festival (华艺节) in 2012. I was in Shanghai and Yunnan in 2012 and didn't manage to catch anything at Huayi. So to be able to watch this now is awesome. 

This ‘Martial Arts Trilogy’ featured Tan Dun's compositions in three Chinese wuxia films — the violin concerto in ‘Hero’ (《英雄》2002, Zhang Yimou), the cello concerto in ‘Crouching Tiger’ (《卧虎藏龙》2000, Ang Lee), and the piano concerto in ‘The Banquet’ (《夜宴》2006, Feng Xiaogang).

I had watched all three films, because, wuxia. It's very hard for me to resist a wuxia film, unless it's a stupid comedy (think Stephen Chow's very gross toilet humor). I still remember their storylines (a tad... clichéd), and the characters. I definitely enjoyed the acting. Except I have to see Zhang Ziyi in all three films. Zzzz. She has significant screen time. Tan Dun said, 

The three female protagonists in the three films all have something in common, in that they lost their loves and lives for their ideals. The musical images of these three heroines are interpreted by three different musical instruments in these three ‘film music’ pieces.

Decided to start watching in chronological order of films' release dates. I'm not familiar with any of the musicians. I uhhh don't attend enough MFO or SSO concerts... or even those by YST Conservatory. If I do attend, I simply enjoy the music, and I rarely pay much attention to the individual musicians, unless their name is printed gigantically on the bill. Also, I'm not super familiar with soundtracks of Chinese music, because unfortunately I don't watch enough of them. Obviously I can't compare Hans Zimmer or Ramin Djawadi with Tan Dun. Each score is done to a different film, requiring different vibes and feel. 

Cellist Ng Pei-sian with Tan Dun in the 'Crouching Tiger Concerto'.

I considered watching this concerts separately on different days. Then again, I decided to run through all three in one glorious afternoon. It was such a luxury. I can always re-watch them since the streaming is available till 31 July 2020, 2359hrs! I began with the 'Crouching Tiger Concerto' (37 minutes). It featured Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) principal cellist Ng Pei-sian. The Singaporean cellist has a superb touch. 

The cinematography is expansive and breathtaking. The martial arts sequences in this film are wonderful. The choreography is skillful and the actors are absolutely elegant and convincing in their movements. “暗石疑藏虎，盤根似臥龍”. I didn't watch this for Chow Yun Fatt, although he really does have that kungfu master stature. I watched this for Michelle Yeoh (as Yu Xiu-lian).

'The Hero Concerto': Composer and conductor Tan Dun,
violinist Wang Jiamin, and on the guqin- Zhao Xiaoxia.

'The Hero Concerto' (50 minutes) featured Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) violinist Wang Jiamin and also guqin musician Zhao Xiaoxia. Wang Jiamin has played in Tan Dun's many collaborative orchestras over the years. Zhao Xiaoxia has been hailed as 'Queen of New-Style Guqin'. I know nothing about guqin and I definitely can't tell what's traditional and what's 'new-style'. Tan Dun introduced the guqin as a 3000-year old instrument, and talked about “琴心剑胆” as a running thread through all three films. 

Whatever the musicians did, they evoked the pain of the film, those elegant flights among tree-tops and swirls of fabric in colors of red, white and black. It brought out the pain of Sword (Tony Leung) and Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung) to have to give up their personal ambition of assassinating the King of Qin for the greater good in the unification of China.

'The Banquet Concerto' (37 minutes) featured Chinese pianist Sun Jiayi. She often plays under Tan Dun's baton in his international showcases. Tan Dun likened the piano sounds in this composition to be like 'Bartók's lyrical sounds fused with Chinese percussion'. I suppose he was referring to the Hungarian composer's penchant for pandiatonic and chromatic sections, and not adhering to diatonic harmony. 

I like the piano concerto loads. Sun Jiayi's playing is extremely enjoyable. It almost felt like she knew every scene in the film. I don't quite like this film because it's a lot of palace intrigue, of killing Emperors and backstabbing one another. The wuxia scenes aren't stunning. It focuses a lot on Empress Wan (Zhang Ziyi) who isn't exactly a nice person. However I really like the ending of this film. Hahahaha. In her hour of glory, Empress Wan is killed by an unknown assassin. We see her dying face that tells of confusion, then horror and anguish. We'll never know who killed her, but we can have a few fun guesses. After all, palace living back then is short and deaths are plentiful and they come sudden. 

Pianist Sun Jiayi in 'The Banquet Concerto'.