World Premiere: Metropolitan Opera, New York, December 21, 2006
An operatic treatment of incidents from the reign of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a united China, Tan Dun’s new opera was commissioned by the Met in the mid-1990s. The work tells the story of the emperor’s search for an anthem that will glorify the newly united nation and express the full magnitude of his vision for the empire. The task falls to a musician, Gao Jianli, once the emperor’s childhood friend, now enslaved by him. In the opera, the thoughts and feelings of individuals affect and reflect the concerns of the vast nation. The work, therefore, is built both around the epic (in choruses and spectacle) and the intimate (in vocal solos and subtle orchestrations). As the score represents a synthesis of diverse styles, so the story represents a synthesis of sources. Film, history, and tradition unite to create this musical tale of the powerful emperor who successfully—if controversially—forges a nation.

The Creators
Composer Tan Dun is internationally acclaimed for his diverse work as a composer of orchestral music (Heaven Earth Mankind), operas (Marco Polo, Peony Pavilion, Tea), and film scores (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, for which he won an Oscar in 2000). The First Emperor is his first work to be performed at the Met. Ha Jin, the author of the novels Waiting (winner of the National Book Award in 1999) and War Trash, collaborated with the composer on the libretto. The story’s sources are Lu Wei’s original screenplay The Legend of the Bloody Zheng, which became the basis for the film The Emperor’s Shadow (1996), and Sima Qian’s Historical Record, a chronicle from the first century BCE. Revered Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou is the director of the world-premiere production and was instrumental in the opera’s creation, having worked closely with Tan Dun while he composed the music.

The Setting
The opera is set during the reign of Qin Shi Huang (260 BCE–210 BCE), the “first emperor” of the title. Although the projected “Empire of a Thousand Generations” barely outlived Qin Shi Huang himself, the idea of a united China survived. Qin Shi Huang is well known for building China’s Great Wall as well as an army of life-size terra cotta soldiers to guard his tomb. He remains a controversial figure in history, his cruelty and excessiveness as freely acknowledged as the magnitude of his vision.

The Music
Tan Dun’s musical vocabulary seeks to bring together dualistic elements: East/West, classical/non-classical, avant-garde/indigenous, old/new. The score of The First Emperor combines the expressive power of traditional ancient Chinese singing with the long musical lines of Italian opera. The operatic orchestra is augmented both by historically-inspired Chinese instruments, which the composer researched in remote areas around Qin Shi Huang’s capital at Xian, and by newly minted instruments intended to express the music of ancient times as Tan Dun has imagined it based on extensive research and scant historical evidence. Ceramic instruments and drums struck by stones figure largely in the inventive score.

The First Emperor at the Met
Met Music Director James Levine first approached Tan Dun with the idea of a Met commission in 1996. The story was suggested by the composer’s wife, producer Jane Huang, who found the themes of love, power, and betrayal perfectly suited for operatic treatment. The formative process was long and complex, including workshops in both Shanghai and New York. Tan Dun turned to a largely Chinese creative team for the first production of his opera, entrusting the direction of the piece to Zhang Yimou, with whom he had collaborated on the film Hero (2002). Zhang Yimou is assisted by Chinese stage director Wang Chaoge. Other key contributors to this project are set designer Fan Yue, lighting designer Duane Schuler, choreographer Dou Dou Huang, and costume designer Emi Wada, an Academy Award-winner for her costumes for Akira Kurosawa’s Ran (1985). One of just six composers to conduct their own works at the Met, Tan Dun himself leads all performances of the first run of the opera, during the 2006–07 season. Legendary tenor Plácido Domingo stars in the title role.