Mao's Last Dancer [Import, Soundtrack]

Christopher Gordon | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 16, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Soundtrack
• Label: Sony Australia
• ASIN: B002SEV320
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #145,342 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

A Drama Based On The Autobiography By Li Cunxin. At The Age Of 11, Li Was Plucked From A Poor Chinese Village By Madame Mao's Cultural Delegates And Taken To Beijing To Study Ballet. In 1979, During A Cultural Exchange To Texas, He Fell In Love With An American Woman. Two Years Later, He Managed To Defect And Went On To Perform As A Principal Dancer For The Houston Ballet And As A Principal Artist With The Australian Ballet. Directed By Bruce Beresford (driving Miss Daisy, Puberty Blues, The Club, Breaker Morant) Staring Chi Cao (principal Dancer For Birmingham Royal Ballet) As Adult Li Cunxin, Kyle Maclachlan (desperate Housewives, Sex In The City, Twin Peaks), Joan Chen (the Home Song Stories, Twin Peaks), Bruce Greenwood (star Trek, D+ªj+  Vu, Capote).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent, December 31, 2009

By 

Jon Broxton (Thousand Oaks, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mao's Last Dancer (Audio CD)

An acclaimed Australian film directed by Bruce Beresford, Mao's Last Dancer tells the true life story of Li Cunxin who, having been born in poverty in rural China in the 1960s, was selected to attend the famed Beijing Dance Academy to study ballet. During a trip to the United States in the 1970s, Cunxin began to question his Communist upbringing, and ultimately defected to the United States, where he went on to become one of the most acclaimed male ballet dancers in the world, dancing with the Houston Ballet for 16 years. The film stars Bruce Greenwood, Kyle McLachlan, Amanda Schull, Joan Chen, and Chi Cao as Cunxin, and features a superb original score by Aussie composer Christopher Gordon.

Gordon is a composer whose work, although roundly critically acclaimed, has never truly resonated with me on an emotional level. Scores like Master and Commander, On the Beach and Moby Dick, while undoubtedly excellent, always seemed to be a little too restrained, a little too aloof, to be truly memorable. Thankfully, Mao's Last Dancer changes all that. It's thoroughly wonderful from start to finish, and has finally convinced me of Christopher Gordon's standing as a composer of great talent.

Anyone who knows me well knows that Chinese-style music played by a Western orchestra is one of my favorite things, and Mao's Last Dancer features that kind of music in spades. The idyllic opening, "Out of the Well", has a lush, beautiful refrain featuring dizi flutes and pipa lutes that depicts the natural beauty and cultural heritage of rural Qingdao province, where Li was born. Cues such as the lively "Village Life", the intimate "Lullaby", the sprightly "Story of the Frog", the warm and peaceful "Family", and the superb "The Archer" maintain the oriental stylistics through a series of authentic sounding rhythms and orchestrations that root the first part of the score firmly in the Orient, while retaining a rich western symphonic sensibility. Admirers of scores in the vein of Rachel Portman's The Joy Luck Club, or Conrad Pope's Pavilion of Women, will find much to enjoy in the early part of the album, although some of the most authentic moments may be a little off-putting with those who do not have an affinity for the style.

When the film moves from the Chinese countryside to the Beijing ballet stage, Gordon's music moves with it, embracing fully the bold classicism of the genre. "Pas de Deux" is a transcendent piano theme; "Turning Points" has a dramatically regal and uplifting quality; "Madam's Model Ballet" and "Becoming a Dancer" are both playful and pompous, merging traditional Chinese instruments with the orchestra in a pair of cues of great beauty and power, as Li perfects his craft. The jazzy and bold "Free Dance" owes a great debt to Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story with its staccato piano rhythms and defiantly modernistic style. The utterly mesmerizing "Dance of Longing" is so stunning is breaks your heart, as it revels in dark, velvety string harmonies, and a violin solo of wonderful clarity and precision. The way Gordon is able to move seamlessly between traditional Chinese instruments, symphonic orchestral writing, and even modernistic jazz is enormously impressive, and effectively highlights his obvious talent.

When the film moves again, from China to the United States, Gordon plays upon the drama of Cunxin's life-changing decisions, and the ultimate triumph of his new life away from the stifling Chinese regime. He fills "The Consulate" with a powerful sense of string and piano-based raw emotion laced with more than a hint of tragedy, as the diplomatic incident surrounding his defection escalates. Memories of home are rekindled through a reprise of the Pas de Deux theme and more authentic Chinese instrumentation in "Brush Dance/Zhang Ban Qiao", before the score comes to an emotionally heightened close in the intimate and tender "Break Up and Finale" and the sweeping "Village Dance and Finale", both of which are simply stunning. I don't remember Gordon writing music of such amazing beauty before, but if this is the kind of writing he is capable of then, then he needs to be hired more frequently than he is now.

If that were not enough, there are several source music pieces - notably the amusing "Sirhc Nodrog's Book of Ballet Exercises for the Pianoforte in D, B Minor, C Minor, Bb, F, C, G, E Minor, F# Minor and A" - as well as excerpts from famous ballets such as Swan Lake and Giselle, which feature outstanding solos by virtuoso pianists Simon Tedeschi, Clemens Leske and Josephine Allan, violinists Michael Dauth and Natsuko Yashimoto, and harpist Louise Johnson, further enhancing the rich, classical feel of the album.

Mao's Last Dancer is film music at its best. The album is structured such that it actually it tells a story, fluidly charting the ups and downs and musical accompaniments of Li's life. It is steeped in bold, colorful orchestral textures and stirring themes, and manages to be exotic enough to be interesting while remaining emotionally centered enough to be effective at conveying those emotions to its audience. It's one of the best scores of 2009, and comes highly, highly recommended.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Beautiful Score That Will Surprise You, October 7, 2010

By 

Kaya R. Savas (North Hollywood, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mao's Last Dancer (Audio CD)

This unknown film about a Chinese dancer who travels to America and falls in love with an American woman is an absolutely stunning musical journey. Christopher Gordon who was part of the musical team that did Master & Commander: The Far Side Of The World as well as the recent Daybreakers will absolutely blow you away here. Mao's Last Dancer is such an extraordinary musical experience that it has to be heard.

The music is a culturally inspired sweeping score that soars unlike anything you've heard recently. I was so utterly shocked at how good this score was. The blending of traditional Chinese sounds into sweeping orchestral elements was so overwhelming that it caught me off guard. The score incorporates a lot of influences from iconic ballets. There are a few tracks from Tchaikovsky included, and some of the tracks that Gordon has composed are indeed dances.

The music is grand and sweeping and has such a rich and full sound that it lifts you up. The dance pieces are also stunning and work as an extension of the score. Not only the classic pieces but the original dance pieces composed by Gordon as well. I guarantee that anyone who approaches this blindly will be surprised in the best way possible. The music takes us on an emotional journey that grows and grows into something spectacular.

The arrangements are beautiful and most of all are thematically grounded throughout. I highly recommend this score to anyone who has ever loved film music. It is also so rare that such a small and unknown film would have such an amazing score. Then again you always find the best things in life in unsuspecting places. Listen to the first track and I promise you will want to see it through. This is by far one of the best scores of the year.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Magnifique ! But, one very important piece missing..., April 8, 2011

By 

True Inspirator (Québec, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mao's Last Dancer (Audio CD)

Christopher Gordon has created a collection of masterpieces using a mix of traditional instruments from China and modern instruments from the western world. In 2009, Gordon received an American Film Institute (AFI) Award for this soundtrack in the Best Original Music Score category. This should not come as a surprise to those who watched the movie and listened to the soundtrack afterwards. There is only one heart breaking disappointment about it : the arranged version of the "Rite of Spring" (which is central in the movie) is absent from this release. The producers of the CD should seriously consider adding it to a future release or making it available to those who already bought it. For those of you who are considering buying this CD, I would recommend that you search for the "Mao's Last Dancer recording sessions" available on the internet to appreciate this work of Christopher Gordon and his musicians.