Shortcut to Classical Music - Musical Terms 'Therapy' Session II Hong Kong Sinfonietta with Jim Chim Sui-man City Hall Concert Hall Reviewed: July 23 Children love Jim Chim Sui-man. Apart from a series of stand-up hits and film appearances that mainly appeal to adults, the associate artistic director of Theatre Ensemble is also a veteran in children's theatre. Thus, the actor was able to make every gesture and grimace elicit waves of laughter from the younger audience at Musical Terms 'Therapy' Session II. The sold-out Hong Kong Sinfonietta concert at City Hall, a sequel to last year's Session I, was part of the International Arts Carnival. The performers brought out classical music education with fun and without being patronising. Chim (below) must be awarded the lion's share of credit for his marvellous acting and spicy Hong Kong humour. He did a stand-up in Cantonese, using one musical term after another as his themes, while the Sinfonietta played demonstrative excerpts under the baton of Yip Wing-sie. Starting with an explanation of tutti, Chim proceeded on to items related to tempo, articulation and expression, punctuating his discourse with genre words such as overture, concerto, symphony, aria and suite - for each of which the Sinfonietta played an example. The audience could hear Glinka's Russlan and Ludmilla Overture and excerpts from the likes of Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto (with the Sinfonietta's keyboard player Peter Fan as soloist), Verdi's La Donna e Mobile from Rigoletto (of which Chim even sang a bit) and Dvorak's New World symphony. The orchestra's performance was straightforward, usually fluent, and served the purpose. But the true star was Chim: the comedian never failed to delight. The show more than deserved its success.