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Granpa and The Bear

City Chamber Orchestra  of Hong Kong

Tsuen Wan Town Hall

Reviewed: June 19

The City Chamber Orchestra  mounted a successful  performance 18 months ago  of the children's tale The Snowman  set to music by British composer  Howard Blake. On Sunday, it  entertained adults  and children alike with concert versions of two other works by Blake: Granpa and The Bear.

In the latter, a girl befriends a polar bear and  they fly  through the night  to meet the Star Bear. Granpa tells the story of Emily and her grandfather  as they let their imaginations take them on fantastic adventures such as hunting whales or turning Granpa's house into Noah's Ark.

Except for the lyrics in The Bear, both  performances were  in Cantonese. Jim Chim Shui- man was the animated narrator  of The Bear, while Joe Junior  played Granpa.

Of the girl sopranos, Michelle Cheung  sang The Bear's theme tune, Somewhere a Star Shines  for Everyone,   and Dorothy Tang  took the role of Emily in Granpa.  Valerie Chan  sang the Make Believe Song from Granpa  in legato. They were competently supported by three adults  and  the Diocesan Girls' Junior  School Choir.

The singers and orchestra responded well to conductor Anthony Inglis, but when 66- year-old Blake  came onstage to conduct the Make Believe Song as an encore, the orchestra  sprang to life  for a  heart-warming close.



Granpa and The Bear