When Christmas carol singers performing before Hong Kong’s governor had their ‘cloak of shyness’ lifted as the audience joined in
- At the 1948 Grand Christmas Concert, attended by Hong Kong’s governor at the Hongkong Hotel, orchestral pieces were followed by carols from local schoolchildren
- The Post found the singing ‘subdued and unimaginative’, until the audience joined in during King Wenceslas and the choir’s ‘spirit and feeling’ were uncovered
“The Grand Christmas Concert at the Hongkong Hotel on Sunday evening was enthusiastically attended by an audience of about two hundred, including His Excellency the Governor,” reported the South China Morning Post on December 21, 1948.
“The Light Orchestra gave a varied programme, including seasonal music, popular medleys and selections of old favourites.
“Conducted by William Apps, and led by Victor Orloff, the Orchestra began with the Overture ‘Pique Dame’ by Suppe. Most of the instrumentalists are young: keenly they sprang to life with this merry and festive opening. ‘Cavatina,’ by Raff, brought a quieter mood, which was fitting, as it preceded the Carol Choir, piece de resistance of the evening.
“The singers numbered thirty, chosen from the choirs of St Stephen’s Girls’ College and the Wah Yan College.
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“The girls wore blue and white, the boys pure white. Standing between the orchestra and the front rows of seats they then sang ‘King Wenceslas.’ And if the pianissimo at the beginning drowned the voices, and if the Wenceslas dialogue was subdued and unimaginative, certainly when the audience joined in the final verse the choir responded with confidence.
‘I felt that spirit and feeling were there all the time: now they were uncovered as if a cloak of shyness had been removed.
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“‘Holy Night’ was sung very audibly and clearly by Joseph Tai, with the choirs humming softly. Second soloist was Reginald Ardy, whose father was conducting. ‘We Three Kings of Orient Are’ followed – soloist Eric Darkin, a rather timid princeling. It was charming to the eye, but a little insipid to the ear.
“Lastly came ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing,’ in which the audience joined heartily, while the procession moved elegantly away.”
