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Music fans who missed out on a recital by mainland piano prodigy Li Yundi are furious after it was revealed the Government had reserved more than eight times as many VIP tickets as normal.

Up to 30 per cent, or 600, of the tickets at the 2,005-seat Hong Kong Cultural Centre concert last Sunday were held back, leaving hundreds of music fans out in the cold.

Normally, just 3.5 per cent of tickets are held for special guests and critics, admitted the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which hosted the event.

On the night, a raft of senior government officials turned up with Tung Chee-hwa and his wife, Betty, Anson Chan Fang On-sang, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and Elsie Leung Oi-sie taking prime seats.

However, a number of the seats remained empty as complimentary ticket-holders failed to show.

The department said 200 tickets were reserved for consuls-general, senior government officials, legislators, members of the Culture and Heritage Commission, music advisers and critics. A further 400 were passed to the Community Chest.

Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, who attended the concert with a free ticket, said: 'If I had known about it, I wouldn't have gone, since I'm not particularly a music lover. The cultural venue looked more like a political arena. I feel sorry for the many disappointed music fans.'

Chow Fan-fu, a director of the International Association of Theatre Critics, said the move set a bad example for future events. 'Next time, when a superstar is coming here, say the Tung Wah group wants 400 seats reserved for charity purposes and the Red Cross wants half the seats held for VIPs. There are so many charity groups out there, how is the Leisure and Cultural Services Department going to entertain them all?'

He said he was not aware of any senior government officials who were especially interested in classical music.

Cultural and Heritage Commission chairman Chang Hsin-kang said he was too busy to reply to inquiries.

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department said the concert was an 'exceptional case' requiring 'public relations and protocol arrangements for diplomats and special guests'.

Li rose to fame as the first Chinese and youngest person to win the gold medal prize at the Frederic Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw last October, beating 98 other young pianists.



VIPs hogged seats for piano prodigy's show