Product Details

• Actors: Haijing Fu, Nancy Allen Lundy, Christopher Gillet, Stephen Richardson, Liang Ning
• Directors: Pierre Audi
• Format: AC-3, Classical, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Chinese, English, French, German, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
• DVD Release Date: March 8, 2005
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002UNQGI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,372 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new and wondrous masterpiece, March 28, 2005

By 

Richard (Minneapolis, Mongolia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tan Dun - Tea, A Mirror of Soul / Lundy, Fu, Gillet, Richardson, Liang, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Opera (DVD)

What a beautiful, strange new opera! This is a hall opera since it was commissioned not by an opera house but by a hall. So in addition to the stage, the orchestra also plays a visible role in the opera. Even the pages of the score are part of the music making. In addition on stage three women play water and paper, as well as a chorus who plays paper and stone. Tea is a love story about a Japanese prince who loves a Chinese princess. It is a strange plot revolving around the book of Tea. In seeking this book the princess dies and the prince retreats to a monastery. In spite of the oriental deistance Tea is quite accessible. It is sung in English by an international cast and conducted by the composer. Anyone interested in modern opera should check out this totally unique work. Its beauty will haunt you long afterwards.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take a Risk!, October 23, 2006

By 

Giordano Bruno (Wherever I am, I am.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tan Dun - Tea, A Mirror of Soul / Lundy, Fu, Gillet, Richardson, Liang, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Opera (DVD)

Very few musical experiences as novel and as ethereal as Tea are available on DVD. The staging is graceful; the sound palette of European, Chinese, and "natural" instruments is well integrated and beautifully appropriate; even Tan Dun himself, as conductor, is a visual asset. This is not easily described; you'll have to take a risk. (Caveat: if your taste requires drama and bravura, stick to Verdi.)

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning, April 24, 2008

By 

G P Padillo "paolo" (Portland, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tan Dun - Tea, A Mirror of Soul / Lundy, Fu, Gillet, Richardson, Liang, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Opera (DVD)

I fell entirely under the spell of Tan Dun's "Tea." I get the very strong sense most fans of western opera will despise this piece as very few folk I know have warmed to this particular cup of "Tea." Those who found the musical language in Tan Dun's "First Emperor" arid or not "tuneful" enough may be further frustrated by the challenges of "Tea," which finds the composer writing in a far more Asian-influenced style, but those who give it a chance and let it work its own magic are, I believe, in for something very special.

Anyone intrigued by the "more than just playing" involvement Tan Dun requires from his orchestra may find even more intriguing the fact this work involves the orchestra (at least in the world premiere) to an even greater degree - to the point they are onstage. I found the orchestra's presence added greatly to my own enjoyment of the work and they were integrated into the staging so much so I can't imagine the work "traditionally" played out set up with a division between what occurs onstage and an unseen orchestra tanked in a pit. The battery of percussionists required on some inventive instruments - like paper (a mile high sheet!) a woman dipping her hands into a bowl of water, etc. bathe the hall and create a soundscape that is one of the most aurally sensuous where monks chants, sound, western music and silence all coalesce into something equal parts spiritual and sensual.

While there is most definitely a plot and story line, this is almost more an opera of ideas heavily influenced from the Book of Tea. The principal story is that of Seikyo, a former Japanese prince who became a monk following a rather intense series of events. He relates to his fellow monks the story of his journey through China in search of the Book of Tea, his fatal love for the Chinese Princess Lan, the challenges of her Emperor father, the jealousy and violence of her brother, the symbolism and meanings of the tea ceremony and the creation of tea. Tosca it ain't.

There is, if one allows themselves to fall under its spell, a spiritual, hypnotic quality here far different than the usual blood `n guts stories that enthrall and excite us in traditional western opera. Still, despite being deemed a critical success I fear an audience for Tea among traditionalists will always be rather limited.

I was thrilled one of my new "it" girls - Kelly Kaduce singing Princess Lan at the U.S. premiere in Santa Fe along with the original Prince Seikyo, Haijing Fu - who is absolutely amazing in this set.

For anyone interested in contemporary opera and an open mind (slightly redundant, but one never knows!) this is a must see. It is stunningly beautiful.