SYMPHONY 1997 by Tan Dun Yo-yo Ma, cello; Cultural Centre Concert Hall Above anything else, Tan Dun is one of the most audacious composers of our time.
His 1997 Symphony could have been a collection of nationalistic cliches. Instead, he has put together a work which transcends his overwhelming forces, gathers together seven or eight styles, two or three centuries (divided by a millennium or two), along with musical quotes from Richard Strauss, Beethoven and Puccini's quote from China.
It runs over 70 minutes, but is almost of heavenly length.
The name 'symphony' is arbitrary, of course. This is a combination of cello concerto, oratorio, Chinese opera, movie music and exotic colour. Yes, Tan Dun includes a complex series of programme notes, and some extra-musical information about war, peace, nature and friendship. But unlike his opera Marco Polo, which was crippled by a static, over-literary libretto, Symphony 1997 has the musical inspiration to rise above verbal games.
The tapestry is vast. More than non-stop cello-playing by Yo-yo Ma, not only a huge children's choir, not only the full Asian Youth Orchestra with a massive battery of percussion. The centrepiece is a reproduction of 2,400-year-old bells - 64 of them - found near Wuhan, painted with aurally glittering colours.
This, in fact, is Tan Dun's strength. Structurally, the work never quite holds together (unless you know the symbolic references); individual moments are memorable.