The OzAsia Festival in Adelaide will kickstart the premiere of Martial Arts Trilogy in Australia, followed by subsequent performances in Melbourne and Sydney. Tan Dun will be leading the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra in this stunning soundscape. It will be showcasing scores from the highly acclaimed films, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "The Banquet" and "Hero". All three epic films weave stories of love, desire and sacrifice and scenes from these films will be projected onto a large screen during the musical performance.
Photograph courtesy of Tomasz Wiech
The Martial Arts Trilogy is made up of three concertos, one for each of the three films. The cello, violin and piano each portray the stories of the female protagonists in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Hero" and "The Banquet" respectively. With tales of love, betrayal, revenge and sacrifice, anticipate to be emotionally charged by the music and scenes from the films.
Photography courtesy of Tomasz Wiech
In "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Jade dreams of attaining spiritual transcendence via martial arts, and her voice is expressed through the cello. In "Hero", the violin relates the story of how Flying Snow sacrifices love to defend her own beloved country. The piano represents Empress Ano's voice in "The Banquet" where she exchanges life and love for desire and revenge.
The Academy and Grammy award-winning composer, Tan Dun has already made a lasting impression on the international music scene. With his compositions played all over the world by the finest orchestras, his works are well heard.
Photography courtesy of Kevin Yatarola
With Martial Arts Trilogy, it will be a fantastic opportunity to see Tan Dun in action in a performance that has been described by Washington Post as "an epic, multimedia production, full of big-screen emotions and unabashed melodrama; Beijing Opera meets Hollywood, more or less. Tan Dun's melodies soared and swooped through the air — like the actors, they were borne aloft on gusts of wind..."
Adelaide Venue: Festival Theatre
When: 8pm (22 Sept) & 4pm (23 Sept)
Natsuko Yoshimoto Violin
Li-Wei Cello
Jiayi Sun Piano
Zhao Xiaoxia Guqin
Website
www.aso.com.au
Sydney
Venue: Sydney Opera House
When: 8pm (22 Feb) & 8pm (23 Feb)
Website
www.sydneysymphony.com
Melbourne
Venue: Hamer Hall
When: 8pm (1 March) & 8pm (2 March)
Website
www.mso.com.au
Contact your respective concert booking offices for more details. Prices for the concert vary depending on venue and ticket class.
