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Timmy Sung

The Vatican's famed Sistine Chapel Choir made its Hong Kong debut last night at the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, after negotiations with Beijing to allow a performance on the mainland failed.
They sang a total of 10 songs in the hour-long concert, including Hail Mary, Have Mercy on Me and By the Rivers of Babylon before an audience of some 2,000 people.
Choirmaster Massimo Palombella said the concert was an important meeting of Eastern and Western cultures and that it featured a traditional selection of songs played at the Vatican.
Before the concert, the choir performed during a morning Mass celebration at the Catholic Cathedral.
Palombella said there was not much difference between the two performances, as there was a "continuity in the music we sang in the cathedral and the concert hall".
It is the first official tour by the choir in Asia. The concert in the city came two days after a performance in Macau.
The singers are due to travel to Taipei today for the last stop of the choir's tour, and they have a performance scheduled there tomorrow.
The choir had wanted to perform on the mainland too, but negotiations with Beijing to allow such a performance failed. Palombella refused to elaborate on what went wrong.
"It doesn't depend on us," he said. "[You can ask about the] music, the concert, but not other things."
Relations between the Vatican and Beijing have long been strained. The latter severed ties with the Holy See in 1951 and does not recognise its authority over Catholics on the mainland.
The Sistine Chapel Choir, which consists of about 30 adult singers and 30 boys choristers, is one of the world's oldest church choirs, dating back to the sixth century. It normally performs at papal ceremonies, but has toured many parts of the world.


Sistine Chapel Choir makes its Hong Kong debut but misses mainland

Schoolboys take front row in one of the oldest religious choirs in the world: the Vatican's Sistine Chapel Choir, also known as the Pope's personal choir. A Hong Kong audience of 2,000 last night got to hear their voices for themselves.

Massimo Palombella leads the choir. Photo: Felix Wong

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But negotiations with Beijing for a mainland performance in Asian tour did not succeed


The Vatican's famed Sistine Chapel Choir made its Hong Kong debut last night at the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, after negotiations with Beijing to allow a performance on the mainland failed.
