A look at what's in store for Hong Kong's performing arts scene from now until the New Year reveals just how the city is shedding its stigma as a cultural backwater, with little opportunity for arts buffs to slouch on the couch in the face of a packed diary of classical music, dance and drama events.
It's that time of year when the endeavours of our major arts groups are bolstered by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) as it loosens the purse strings and imports a clutch of brand-name classical music acts and stages a substantial international arts festival - this year's biennial World Cultures Festival runs for four weeks in October and November, with the theme of 'Enchanting Arts of Asia'.
Local dance companies are stepping out with traditional and contemporary works, while English-language theatre groups are offering a potpourri of productions, from the disturbing to the side-splitting.
Classical music
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra launched its new season this weekend with Mahler's The Song of the Earth and continues with comprehensive programming that extends from a core repertoire of Beethoven symphonies to the less familiar fare of Philip Glass' Double Concerto for Violin and Cello, which premieres in Asia on November 18. We won't see Edo de Waart, now in his final season as artistic director and chief conductor, until next April.
Meanwhile, the orchestra will be under the direction of a string of internationally established conductors, including Britain's Mark Wigglesworth, Andreas Delfs from Germany, Finland's Osmo Vanska and Dutch maestro Jaap van Zweden. There's also an opportunity to see a bright new light in young Latvian conductor Ainars Rubikis, who has recently bagged a number of awards.