Edinburgh International Festival Opening Concert: Buddha Passion – Usher Hall, Edinburgh
This was – A brilliant, joyful opening of the 2023 International Festival
One of the most versatile musicians in the world, Academy-award winning (score to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Tan Dun conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Edinburgh Festival Chorus in the Scottish premiere of his own extraordinary Buddha Passion (2018).
And what an amazing and joyful spectacle this was, which had the massed ranks of junior and adult choristers laughing and clapping, clinking pebbles together, tinkling Chinese bells and singing alternatively between ancient Sanskrit and Chinese. And before them the spectacle of the National Orchestra in full flow.
A very effective subtitling allowed the packed house to appreciate the piece fully. This is a treatise on the joy...