Marco Polo An Opera Within an Opera

Composer Tan Dun portrays the Venetian explorers travels to the Far East as a journey of both inner and physical discovery a voyage depicting spiritual experiences as well as a geographical expedition At the same time the work with a libretto by Paul Griffiths can be seen as a compositional adventure of the composer himself unifying the various cultural worlds he occupies a blend of Western avantgarde and Oriental traditions Pierre Audis mythical staging and Jean Kalmans fabulous set design complement the composers own musical direction forging the dazzling versatile soloists the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and Cappella Amsterdam to a stunning symbiosis of elements across time and space a true testimony to cultures intertwined in globalisation