Along the Roaring River: My Wild Ride from Mao to the Met [Hardcover]

Hao Jiang Tian (Author), Robert Lipsyte (Foreword), Lois B. Morris (Collaborator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 21, 2008

Since his 1991 debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, Hao Jiang Tian has appeared on the world’s greatest stages, more than 300 times at the Met alone. How he got there is a drama of bittersweet humor, mortal danger, heartbreaking tragedy, and inspiring triumph—more passionate and turbulent than even the grandest opera. In Along the Roaring River, Tian relives his coming of age in China during the chaotic Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s and his dramatic journey from hard labor in a Beijing factory to international opera stardom.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Together with Morris, a New York Times music writer, celebrated operatic bass Hao Jiang Tian tells the colorful story of how he became the first world-class Western opera singer from China. In Beijing, separated from his parents (both military officer/musicians whose Communist loyalties were under suspicion), Tian chafed against the artistic restrictions of China's Cultural Revolution. Everything natural became unnatural, he writes. Tian is 20 before he discovers his singing voice, and he is 30—having played accordion, studied Verdi and attended an American college on scholarship—by the time he sings at the Metropolitan Opera in 1991. Tian's adventures are driven by pluck, yuan (fate) and romance, and spun with a raconteur's skill, the narrative's chronological rush spiked with apt foreshadowing, flashbacks and endearing humor. His insider's take on the rigors of operatic training and backstage blowups, along with his career details (roles from Mephistopheles to poet Li Bai) and name-dropping (Pavarotti, Domingo), are a fan's delight. Most remarkable, however, is the way that Tian's concern for family and country, along with the details of his life in music, create a metaphor for an emerging self-awareness. (May)
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From Booklist

Born in 1954, Tian was the son of musicians in the Mao-era People’s Liberation Army, whose status allowed the family more privileges and a higher standard of living. Tian quickly learned to play guitar and piano and used these skills to gain some advantage over his peers. For the most part, his life has been one of struggle. Life under Mao included the dark period of the Cultural Revolution, when Tian worked in a factory while honing his musical skills. He studied voice at China’s Central Conservatory and, thanks to contacts in Denver, attended the Lamont School of Music and sang small roles in Opera Colorado before auditioning for the Metropolitan Opera, with which he has sung since 1991. Now in demand all over the world, the basso’s most recent triumphs are the title role in Guo Wenjing’s Poet Li Bai and General Wang in Tan Dun’s The First Emperor. Tales from the opera house add spice; concluding comments on singing, performing, and managing a career, richness to an altogether delicious book. --Alan Hirsch

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (April 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047005641X
• ISBN-13: 978-0470056417
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,058,296 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recovering the natural, August 23, 2008

By 

J. Anderson (Monterey, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Along the Roaring River: My Wild Ride from Mao to the Met (Hardcover)

A great book, and if you've ever heard Hao Jiang Tian sing in an opera house, the human dimension of his story of survival and eventual triumph becomes even truer and more exciting. This memoir is a beautiful introduction to a superb artist, and a fine singer. Tian's determination and bravery in the pursuit of his art despite enormous challenges is a lesson for every artist. Engagingly written, Along the Roaring River details Tian's awakening before and after the Cultural Revolution, the noble tragedy of his parents, and his burgeoning political awareness even in Mao's China. Not least of his story is Tian's essential relationship with Placido Domingo, the one musician who personally encouraged and helped the great Chinese bass in every way, revealing much of what the classical music world already knows about the humanitarianism of Domingo, as well as the subtle ways in which the great tenor has advanced the real meaning of operatic art in the world's consciousness. The interior story of Tian's relationship with his wife Martha is a pillar of the book's strength, and we find in their love story the backbone of the tremendous struggle familiar to every artist of every stripe. As a musician, I'm indebted to Tian for his courage, and for his insights into the art of opera performance, the interior burden it asks of singers, and how it can be successfully achieved. Best of all, Along the Roaring River offers a uniquely personal testament of the humility essential to artistic triumph. Absolutely recommended to everyone seeking a true story of overcoming huge odds to not only survive as a man, but conquer and grow as a musician and an artist. May Hao Jiang Tian have a thousand years of singing his heart, his life! I'm moved by his book. You will be too.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reads like an Historical Novel: A Book you would give up a good dinner to read., April 28, 2008

By 

Bookgiver "Elin" (PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Along the Roaring River: My Wild Ride from Mao to the Met (Hardcover)

This book is a real page turner. I left family and friends in a restaurant last night so I could come home and finish it. It is so lucidly written, the story as riveting as an historical novel. Tian is a complex but guileless fellow with a giant talent driving him to expression. The supporting cast, companions on the path of his destiny, are similarly well drawn. Tian's story brings home the truth of how much conditioning we all have, politically and cognitively. And it affirms for me that the human spirit, human relationships, divine providence, and the unseen world are much more active than ourconscious thoughts and feelings in determining the outcome of events and personal transformation.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Captured my heart and left me desiring more..., April 20, 2008

By 

Rebecca "Rebecca" (irvine, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Along the Roaring River: My Wild Ride from Mao to the Met (Hardcover)

I believe this is the best book I have ever read! I could not get enough of Tian...

This book gives China a human face. It is a beautiful story of what it was like to be in China during the Communist reign of Mao, and surviving it. It was deep, powerful, sexy, riveting, exciting and passionate.. You will not be able to put it down. I was captured by Tian's heart song. A passion and willingness to talk about China in a daring and beautiful way.

Just as Quincy Jones helped bridge many African Americans to a voice in America. Tian unknowingly has given the Chinese a voice that will touch even the most unreachable hearts and leave you with a pure desire to find your own heart song and destiny.