Way down in the review, after a breathless headline and lead about Tan
Dun's Opus H2O:

   ... at times "Water Passion" sounded insubstantial and aimless,
   like a film score in search of a film. There is too much vamping,
   too many moments where some mildly interesting rhythmic riff or
   chanted melodic line just goes on and on. Trying to lend a Semitic
   touch to the score, Mr. Tan indulges in long, generic passages
   of sustained pedal tones over which elegiac choral and string
   lines meander. The work does create an ambient world of beautiful
   sounds, moments of pummeling savagery and, as staged and lighted
   here, some involving images. But at an hour and 45 minutes, not
   including an awkward intermission that broke any sense of spell,
   this passion is too padded. It would be a stronger work if it
   were cut to no more than 60 or 70 minutes and performed without
   break.

     http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/13/arts/music/13WATE.html

Janos Gereben/SF
www.sfcv.org
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