Maestro fulfilling dream of homeland

Lu Sheng, head of the Tianjin Philharmonic Orchestra, says the orchestra is anticipating performances of Franz Joseph Haydn's music under Tang's direction next year. "Tang has a very high standard toward art, and he adds much strong personal charisma and interpretation to the composers' classical works," Lu says.

Western classical music is not rooted in China, but Tang believes China has soil receptive to its growth. "However, I have never thought of it as cultivat

ing Chinese audiences. What I do is to present the music as best as I can."

Many think classical music is for the wealthy or intellectuals. "That is completely wrong," Tang says. "It's not about knowledge; it's about experience and feeling. You don't have to learn the significance or the musicians' profiles before you are ready to listen.

"Music speaks when language ceases. Music, at its worst, is described by words. Anybody, even the illiterate, can get goose bumps hearing music."

Tang himself, born into an artistically inclined family in Shanghai, had a multitude of opportunities to get in touch with his creative side. His father, film director Tang Xiaodan, winner in 1984 of China's prominent Golden Rooster Award for Best Director, exposed his son to film, opera, ballet and musicals. His mother Lan Weijie, a famous film editor, also supported his music studies. He often discussed music and painting with his elder brother, painter Tang Muli. As a result, Muhai Tang says he sees the visual and auditory arts as closely interlinked.

The conductor still remembers the shocking beauty of his first experience with live music when he was a child. Muhai Tang was having dinner with his father at the diner of the Shanghai Culture Club when he suddenly dropped his chopsticks. The boy had heard the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra practicing.

"It was the first time I'd ever listened to the live performance of a big symphony orchestra, instead of a recording on TV or radio. At that time I had no idea what that was, but I was overwhelmingly stunned."

His life of wealth and comfort changed, however, during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). His celebrity father suddenly became a prisoner. Muhai Tang joined the army, and then became a factory worker before he finally was able to study composition and conducting at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

The ups and downs tempered the budding conductor, making him strong-willed yet calm. He says his experiences gave him a healthy dose of skepticism when dealing with art and those who taught him. "I learned from them, but they are not gods. I know all the merits and faults of my teachers. I always have questioned what they told me. Perfection does not exist in art. Everybody, me and they, needs to learn."

That's how he explained dealing with the stress of conducting veteran musicians in a prestigious orchestra at such a young age. It could have been fatal to his career had he been judged unqualified, especially in a business where some think a conductor's real career begins at age 60.