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

by Hao Jiang Tian and Lois B. Morris

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 047005641X
• ISBN13: 9780470056417
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful Book -

I really enjoyed this book. It is not really about opera - more about the courage and triumph of a man's life. Very well written and very enjoyable. I've been giving it as gifts to many of my friends and everyone seems to be loving it. It is very touching and very real.

Recovering the natural

A great book, and if you've ever heard Hao Jiang Tian sing in an opera house, the human dimension of his story of survival and eventual triumph becomes even truer and more exciting. This memoir is a beautiful introduction to a superb artist, and a fine singer. Tian's determination and bravery in the pursuit of his art despite enormous challenges is a lesson for every artist. Engagingly written, Along the Roaring River details Tian's awakening before and after the Cultural Revolution, the noble tragedy of his parents, and his burgeoning political awareness even in Mao's China. Not least of his story is Tian's essential relationship with Placido Domingo, the one musician who personally encouraged and helped the great Chinese bass in every way, revealing much of what the classical music world already knows about the humanitarianism of Domingo, as well as the subtle ways in which the great tenor has advanced the real meaning of operatic art in the world's consciousness. The interior story of Tian's relationship with his wife Martha is a pillar of the book's strength, and we find in their love story the backbone of the tremendous struggle familiar to every artist of every stripe. As a musician, I'm indebted to Tian for his courage, and for his insights into the art of opera performance, the interior burden it asks of singers, and how it can be successfully achieved. Best of all, Along the Roaring River offers a uniquely personal testament of the humility essential to artistic triumph. Absolutely recommended to everyone seeking a true story of overcoming huge odds to not only survive as a man, but conquer and grow as a musician and an artist. May Hao Jiang Tian have a thousand years of singing his heart, his life! I'm moved by his book. You will be too.

Educational and moving

Knowing little about either what it is like to grow up in China or Opera, this book was riveting for me. Tian goes in depth about both of these topics and i truly feel as if i know him and his family now! Tian's journey reminds us that no matter where in the world people come from and how foreign they may seem, we are ultimately the same and seeking the same things in life. I am motivated to learn more about opera and have plans to go to my first one at the Central City Opera in Colorado he so passionately describes! You don't have to be versed in Opera to be inspired by this book!

Reads like an Historical Novel: A Book you would give up a good dinner to read.

This book is a real page turner. I left family and friends in a restaurant last night so I could come home and finish it. It is so lucidly written, the story as riveting as an historical novel. Tian is a complex but guileless fellow with a giant talent driving him to expression. The supporting cast, companions on the path of his destiny, are similarly well drawn. Tian's story brings home the truth of how much conditioning we all have, politically and cognitively. And it affirms for me that the human spirit, human relationships, divine providence, and the unseen world are much more active than ourconscious thoughts and feelings in determining the outcome of events and personal transformation.

Captured my heart and left me desiring more...

I believe this is the best book I have ever read! I could not get enough of Tian... This book gives China a human face. It is a beautiful story of what it was like to be in China during the Communist reign of Mao, and surviving it. It was deep, powerful, sexy, riveting, exciting and passionate.. You will not be able to put it down. I was captured by Tian's heart song. A passion and willingness to talk about China in a daring and beautiful way. Just as Quincy Jones helped bridge many African Americans to a voice in America. Tian unknowingly has given the Chinese a voice that will touch even the most unreachable hearts and leave you with a pure desire to find your own heart song and destiny.