WHEN the Philadelphia Orchestra performs at the Cultural Centre on Friday and Saturday, the players and their music director will be returning to old stomping grounds.
Among the orchestra's benchmarks during its 93-year history was its 1973 visit to the People's Republic of China - the first by an American orchestra.
And music director designate Wolfgang Sawallisch has visited Hongkong in his capacity as music and general director of the Bavarian State Opera.
The orchestra also has a long association with Asia, having toured Japan and South Korea. This week's concerts represent the Hongkong leg of an eight-city, three-week tour of Asia, including China.
It will perform two separate and contrasting programmes in Hongkong. Friday's performance begins with Haydn's Symphony No 104, The London Symphony, followed by Bruckner's Symphony No 4.
The following night brings three works: Schubert's Symphony No 8 in B minor, Till Eulenspiegel by Richard Strauss and the ever-popular Symphony No 9, From the New World by Dvorak.
