Three legends of Hong Kong opera scene roll back the golden years

Three local legends turned back the years on Sunday night with an impressive display of their golden voices, despite age and ill health.

Sopranos Ella Kiang and Barbara Fei and tenor Tse Chi-lin, all in their 80s, showed they can still deliver and draw a full house in a venue they have often performed in since it opened in 1962.

Hosted by the Ella Kiang Singers, the evening featured a line-up of younger artists paying tribute to their revered mentors through songs associated with their long careers.

The programme began with a group of seven sopranos singing Chinese classical art song Light Laugh with two solo passages. Some minor problems with the high notes aside, their voices fared well with the changing mood and rhythm of the music.