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

by Hao Jiang Tian, Lois B. Morris (Collaborator)

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.

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2008

Reviews

[Nooilforpacifists · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though promoted as a sort of Opera version of "Mao's Last Dancer," and the stories are similar, author Tian is an operatic bass. And, basses play the father, the clown, the bad guy--but never get the girl. So, although the book isn't bad, the author lacks the rich emotional connection that a ballet principal needs daily.

Tian's autobiography also is slow developing--he doesn't begin singing until almost a third through the book. To be fair, many chapters before that concern the Cultural Revolution, which is both as fascinating and awful as advertised. Still, once he escapes China, and learns Western Opera (and languages) there are some great vignettes, including this to Luciano Pavarotti during intermission of a Verdi opera at the Met:


"'Maestro', I blubbered, 'ten years ago I came from China. I had only thirty-five dollars left in my pocket. I spent eight dollars for standing room here at the Met. I had never seen a real Western opera. And you, such a great singer, sang that night.

'Maestro, today, I realized that exactly ten years have passed *to the day*. And here I am *on* the Metropolitan Opera stage *with* you! Maestro, this is why I had to tell you. This is such an honor! I am so lucky!'"



Years later,


"The most meaningful endorsement came the day after my first performance. I was walking over one of the beautiful bridges in Florence when a man on a motor bike screeched to a halt besides me. He lifted his helmet and said to me, in Italian, 'Were you Don Basilio [from Rossini's Barber of Seville] last night?'

'Si.'

'Oh! Can I shake your hand?'

'Grazie.'"

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Born in Beijing 1954, Hao Jiang Tian was the son of musicians in the People’s Liberation Army. Their status gave them more privileges and allowed him to be more rebellious than was normally accepted in Chinese children at the time. His young teens were spent in the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, to which Tian looks back with some nostalgia - a testament to the resilience of youth. Assigned to work in a factory (which was really a privilege as opposed to being a farm laborer), Tian’s rebelliousness caught up with him and it became rather urgent that he leave his homeland. Fortunately, by this time his wonderful bass voice had been discovered and he was an awarded a scholarship to a music school in Denver. From there he went on to become the first world-class Western opera singer from China. The singer and his co-writer make a wonderful team. The story is well-written and quite engaging.

[Deb]

this the autobiography of a man who grew up during the Cultural Revolution and went on to become an opera singer at the Met