Tan Dun’s ‘First’ is his Met first

He collected folk songs in villages in his native China, then planted rice during the Cultural Revolution. Later, he played music on the streets of New York to buy food. Then he won an Oscar for the music for the martial arts fantasy “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”

Now, composer Tan Dun is making his Metropolitan Opera debut.

“The First Emperor,” starring Placido Domingo in the title role of a production with a reported cost of up to $3 million, has its world premiere Thursday night -- on stage and in cyberspace.

The performance at 5 p.m. PST will be presented live by webcast at www.metopera .org and on Sirius Satellite Radio.