Search - Tan Dun: Marco Polo on DVD


Tan Dun: Marco Polo
Tan Dun Marco Polo
Actors: Dun, Audi, Workman, Castle, Richardson
Director: Vermerien
Genres: Music Video & Concerts, Musicals & Performing Arts
NR     2009     2hr 49min


     
1

Larger Image

Movie Details

Actors: Dun, Audi, Workman, Castle, Richardson
Director: Vermerien
Genres: Music Video & Concerts, Musicals & Performing Arts
Sub-Genres: DTS, Musicals & Performing Arts
Studio: Bbc / Opus
Format: DVD - Color,Widescreen - Subtitled
DVD Release Date: 06/30/2009
Original Release Date: 01/01/2009
Theatrical Release Date: 01/01/2009
Release Year: 2009
Run Time: 2hr 49min
Screens: Color,Widescreen
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 1
Edition: Classical
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Languages: English
Subtitles: Dutch, English, French, Italian, Spanish
We're sorry, our database doesn't have DVD description information for this item. Click here to check Amazon's database -- you can return to this page by closing the new browser tab/window if you want to obtain the DVD from SwapaDVD.
Click here to submit a DVD description for approval.

Similar Movies

 

Movie Reviews

Drop all preconceptions of opera
Richard | Minneapolis, Mongolia | 07/07/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Richard Wagner envisioned the theater of the future as a coming together of all the different arts. Certainly for Wagner as for most other composers this ideal remains an ideal. Wagner may have brought together music, word and stagecraft but where is dance in his theater?
Marco Polo on the other hand seems just such a work where all the different arts work in harmony for the sake of the whole. Most operas use the words to convey the story. Not Marco Polo. The words are few and far between and they do not primarily carry the plot. For plot you have to look elsewhere - the words, the music, the choreography, the stagecraft, everything.
And for those of us accustomed to rather linear works Marco Polo poses some problems. It may be advisable to play the synopsis before jumping into the work. I preferred to jump in with no cheat sheets. It was hard at first but after a while I could follow the outline of the plot. I think I caught maybe 70% of what was happenning. And that is all right. Marco Polo is a strange and wonderful experience - just as the original story is.
The music as a blend of East and West. I was a little put off by the Chinese style of singing until I realized it wasn't so different from Western Baroque opera seria. Both styles put the singer's virtuosity first.
Is Marco Polo for everyone? Hardly. I have seen the three DVDs of Tan Dun operas and Marco seems the most difficult to comprehend. But it is a wonderful sound world and once you take it on its own terms rather than the expectation of what an opera should be it is quite a show."
Modern opera from the composer of the music to "Crouching Ti
Matthew Wilcox | Lansing, MI | 09/01/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tan Dun is probably known best for his film scores to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Hero". This DVD is a performance of his 1st opera. In "Marco Polo", the title character is actually played by two people: a woman plays the part of Marco, and a man plays the part of Polo. The piece transitions between a physical journey and a spiritual journey.

As the orchestra tunes, the players are already on the stage, with others approaching. The character Rustichello acts as a storyteller, and uses a sort of sing-speak method of telling his story. The music is a combination of traditional Oriental and avant-garde Western (modern classical). At one point, a sitarist and a tabla player join the actors onstage. The staging and costuming are bizarre, and complement the music well.

"Marco Polo" is very colorful and theatrical, like his opera "The First Emperor", which was a huge success when it premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 2007. Opus Arte DVDs (such as this one) usually contain an illustrated synopsis, which may be helpful prior watching the opera. A 25-minute documentary is also included, allowing the viewer to learn more about the composer, players and crew.

Tan Dun - The First Emperor (The Metropolitan Opera HD Live Series)"
Grammy Award Winner
Joanne C. Anderson | Rochester, NY | 01/21/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)

"
Remarkable photography, costuming superb, the soloists were of the highest caliber, especially Nancy Allan Lundy, who portrayed water exquisitely.

The fact that this opera has been nominated for a grammy award speaks for itself. Buy it and see it before the Grammy Awards on January 31st.

"