Tonight, The Internationale Resounded Through the Great Hall of the People

2007/7/3 23:34:35

If the concert had continued on its initial trajectory, it would have been an utterly dreadful affair. Billed as the Chinese version of the Proms — a crossover event — the result was that it started late from the very beginning. After countless rounds of audience clamoring, the first conductor dashed onstage in a panic and delivered an incomprehensibly shrunken rendition of an already abridged William Tell Overture. Following him came three men in their forties whose voices hadn't fully warmed up, accompanied by the constant movement of silhouettes behind them, noise, and Beijing profanity — in short, as chaotic as chaos could get. Roughly the entire first half was spent mired in unceasing disorder.

The tenor-baritone duet from The Pearl Fishers is something this ID is particularly fond of, but it takes two truly great voices to bring out that flavor — and at least tonight, this ID did not hear it. The mezzo from Shanghai, Liao, had no glaring weaknesses, but once the second half's "Toreador Song" began, the narrowness of his voice became apparent. The tenor from Hong Kong, Mo — hailed as the foremost Chinese male tenor — was acceptable, though the passaggio transitions left rather obvious traces. But at least he was far better than the one recently hyped domestically as some so-and-so's disciple, the world's Nth greatest tenor. At the very least, we could hear the shadow of a dramatic tenor.

Toward the later portion, having presumably sung their way into form, the effect improved somewhat — though not by much. The first encore was "Nessun Dorma," with the pop singer Liu mixed in singing alongside, a pure farce. The second — and final — encore was The Internationale. Without that, this ID would probably have forgotten the concert before even leaving the hall. In the Great Hall of the People, on such an occasion, singing The Internationale truly was a remarkable experience — and it's not the kind of experience one can have whenever one pleases. There is no need to speculate about the motives behind it all. In any case, tonight, The Internationale resounded through the Great Hall of the People.

Right now, what's playing outside is precisely this foremost Chinese tenor from Hong Kong performing his fourteen arias — his name is Warren Mok.

Signing off now. Goodnight, on this night when The Internationale resounded.