Topic
Home to two renowned orchestras, the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, and scores of other ensembles and players, as well as a magnet for many of the world’s leading performers, Hong Kong has one of the liveliest classical music scenes in Asia. Read previews and reviews of the biggest classical music events in Hong Kong, interviews with big players and tastemakers, profiles and news.
- In his Hong Kong debut, Fung shows he has technique to burn, as well as musicality, in a varied programme that swung between passion and intimacy
- Pianist and cellist were on the same page throughout the recital of works by Schumann, Chopin, Brahms and Fung himself, Cheung by no means playing second fiddle
Named orchestra of the year in 2019, HK Phil planned a tour to capitalise on the accolade, but the Covid-19 pandemic delayed it. Five years later it finally set off. Post Magazine went along for the ride.
China’s largest piano maker Pearl River is trying to make headway globally and rival the likes of Yamaha and Steinway with its Kayserburg, ‘an ultimate piano’ for the international market.
US cellist Zlatomir Fung, who has Bulgarian and Chinese ancestry and studied at New York’s Juilliard, make his Hong Kong debut, his grandfather’s birthplace, playing with local pianist Rachel Cheung.
Sometimes called an ‘idol of classical music’, South Korean violinist Danny Koo wants to make his style and genre of music more accessible to the public – and so far, he is succeeding.
Orchestra under Estonian maestro give a chilling account of Shostakovich’s Symphony No 5, after some riotous Rimsky-Korsakov and a commanding Stravinsky Violin Concerto with soloist Alena Baeva.
Senri Kawaguchi’s inspired drumming brings alive Hong Kong composer Ng Cheuk-yin’s Fly LIVE! and new work An Array of Stars in a fusion concert with Hong Kong orchestra.
While Art Basel Hong Kong has plenty to keep the fine art-minded enthralled, simultaneous off-site events also showcase creative curiosities
Period instrument ensemble Concerto Italiano showed their mastery of baroque in a set of Vivaldi concertos; the Lucerne Festival Strings, performing with solo violinist Akiko Suwanai, were good in parts.
Hong Kong Arts Festival show with a rock concert vibe features pieces orchestral in scope composed by Nordic metalheads and performed by multinational Baltic Sea Philharmonic.
An Apple Music Classical ambassador, Son Yeol-sum has teamed with Bulgarian-born violinist Svetlin Roussev on an album, Love Music. Son talks about bridging the gap between classical music and today’s audiences.
From 1842 to 1997, the Vienna Philharmonic was an all-male ensemble. Now it has 24 female musicians and is catching up with some of the world’s other leading orchestras.
Garden of Repose at the West Kowloon Cultural District, a multimedia choral concert produced by the Hong Kong Arts Festival, includes works by Brahms, Arvo Pärt, Poulenc and Antonia Lotti.
Performed at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Van Gogh in Me is a multimedia display of music and visual art by the Netherlands Chamber Choir using works by Debussy, Gustav Mahler, Saint-Saëns and more.
Pianist Minsoo Sohn, teacher of South Korean prodigy Yunchan Lim, is appearing in the 2024 Hong Kong Arts Festival. He talks to the Post about South Korea’s music scene and how he sees performing.
Milan’s Teatro alla Scala recently hosted the Orchestra of the Sea, playing violins, violas and cellos made by maximum security prisoners using wood salvaged from boats used to smuggle African migrants.
Seiji Ozawa led the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 29 years and received multiple accolades across his career, including an honorary doctorate from Harvard.
Jamie Dornan is best known for his racy role as Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades trilogy, but who is his real-life partner, British actress Amelia Warner?
Teenage British phenomenon who will perform two of her own works and conduct another in Hong Kong talks about shedding her ‘wonderkid’ mantle and the inspiration she gets from living in Vienna.
Performers who tackle Schubert’s piano sonatas need to understand how to bring out the layering of the composer’s musical ideas. Paul Lewis did that in spades in his concluding recitals in Hong Kong.
Despite the winter chill, Chinese gives 45-minute open-air performance at Hong Kong theme park, featuring arrangements of songs from Disney films such as Let It Go, from Frozen, and It’s A Small World.
As Jaap van Zweden, music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, prepares to hand over the baton, we look at candidates to succeed him.
The app’s launch is likely to bolster Apple’s major digital services business in China, which remains the US tech giant’s largest market in terms of App Store-related revenue.
Wilson Ng, former associate conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic, will bring his current orchestra, the Hankyung Arte Philharmonic, from South Korea to the Hong Kong Arts Festival in March.
Chilean-Italian conductor Paolo Bortolameolli talks about coming to Hong Kong to conduct Latin American-themed New Year concerts with the HK Phil and his journey to achieve his life goal.
Amid flurry of performances in China, Russia looks to be seen in a positive light in the face of Western condemnation over the Ukraine invasion: analysts.
Hong Kong Sinfonietta music director and conductor Christoph Poppen explains how a concert by famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin and his pianist sister Hephzibah opened eyes to the power of music
In Musicus Soloists Hong Kong’s evening of Nordic music, violinist Angela Chan’s solo in Arvo Pärt’s Fratres stands out, while their playing of Grieg’s Piano Concerto with Louis Lortie is eye-opening.
A conference in Shenzhen about Arnold Schoenberg saw the Chinese premiere of Tod Machover’s opera about the 20th century Austrian Jewish composer who pioneered atonal music and his exile in America.
