Marco Polo and Tan Dun have a few things in common. Marco Polo, the 13th-century explorer, added sensational flourishes to his accounts of taking the Silk Road to China. Like him, Chinese composer Tan Dun is flamboyant and international, leading the way in contemporary classical music with crossover adventures.
This month Tan Dun sets up camp in Amsterdam with De Nederlandse Opera (DNO) for the Dutch premiere of his acclaimed 1996 opera Marco Polo at Het Muziektheater, to be accompanied by a series of public events organised under the umbrella of Marco Polo in Amsterdam.
These include mass choral works, a travelling bus and even some traditional Dutch songs.
“To me, he [Tan Dun] is the ultimate cosmopolite, influenced by all the cultures around him,” says Anthony Heidweiller, director of Marco Polo in Amsterdam. “Tan Dun and Marco Polo could be brothers.”
Marco Polo, the opera, is not a retelling of age-old stories. Instead, when Tan Dun looked to the legend for inspiration, an opera within an opera emerged. Balancing the physical voyage of Polo with the spiritual, it features two protagonists: Marco (played in Amsterdam by Sarah Castle) and Polo (Charles Workman), whose interwoven journeys are matched by the opera’s fusion of Chinese, European and American musical styles.
While admitting that nobody today knows who the real Marco Polo was, Heidweiller emphasises the traveller’s talent for “discovering other cultures, other worlds”. This certainly applies to the Zangkaart [Vocal Map], one of the Marco Polo in Amsterdam projects, which aims to showcase the diversity of Amsterdam’s people and songs.
“Through this project, I want people to rediscover the necessity of singing,” Heidweiller explains. “What is singing in this time? How important is it to sing with authenticity?”
The Zangkaart is produced using a number of ‘singing pillars’ at locations around Amsterdam. These recording posts have been equipped with audio and video equipment, enabling anyone to sing and record a song. The results are posted on the accompanying website, zangkaart.nl [no longer online].
The idea is to capture moments in the lives of everyday Amsterdammers. Those who have already recorded at the Tropenmuseum post, for example, have ranged from boisterous schoolchildren, to older women doing renditions of Dutch classics, to one earnest young man singing U2.
“What I find beautiful is hearing so many voices,” Heidweiller says of the first songs that have been uploaded to the site. “It’s not a voice contest; it’s not YouTube; you don’t have to be a star.”
Launched at Uitmarkt in August, the Zangkaart is growing steadily, and participation is expected to peak over the coming weeks with Tan Dun and his opera in town. “I dream that it will continue,” adds Heidweiller wistfully. “I think this project is so important.”
Along with the Zangkaart, Marco Polo in Amsterdam will also feature the Zijderoute [Silk Road] bus, which will travel around the city showcasing the vocal efforts of 11 local school choirs. On 16 and 23 November, a series of vocal performances on Zeedijk will focus on the history of Amsterdam’s Chinatown.
Finally, Choral Flow, a performance by a 1,500-strong choir in and around Het Muziektheater, will resonate across the city on 28 November, coinciding with the final performance of Marco Polo.
This article first appeared in TimeOut Amsterdam in its November 2008 issue.