Richard Bamping: Principal Cellist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
The principal cellist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bamping, hit the big time at the end of last month when he replaced ailing world-renowned cellist Truls Mørk for a much-anticipated virtuoso performance. He talks to June Ng about crisis management and being a karaoke star.
HK Magazine: Exactly how many days notice did you have before knowing that you had to replace Truls Mørk?
Richard Bamping: Actually just two days. I was informed that he was too sick to fly over, and I think it must be a quite serious condition because he’s missed quite a number of concerts already.
HK: So you took it right away? Could you have said no?
RB: Of course I could have. It took me an hour to think about it. On the one hand, if the concert was cancelled, the audience would be very disappointed. But if I decided to do it and didn’t do it well, I would let a lot of fans down. I eventually told myself that I was in good shape to do it. Even though I only had two days, I’d actually played that piece five weeks before.
HK: What’s the hardest part?
RB: Avoiding practicing too much! It takes time for the skin to harden, and if you over-practice you might hurt yourself with calluses.
HK: Your cello was built in 1674. How did you get hold of it? And how do you keep it in good shape with such humid weather in Hong Kong?
RB: I got hold of it two years ago, by sheer luck. I happened to have the chance to go back to Britain to look for a cello, and right at the moment I stepped into the shop the cello had just been made available. As for how I keep it in good shape, it requires a lot of attention. I have to keep it in an air-tight case all the time, and only take it out when the ambient humidity is 50 percent—no more, no less. You can’t even touch the body of the cello, as the grease from your skin might damage the 350-year-old furnishing.
HK: What do you do with it when you have to go on tour?
RB: I book a ticket for it and reserve it a seat on the plane. Because it’s so valuable to me, I have to take it with me wherever I go. I won’t just leave it in the hotel room or even in a locked store room. It goes to breakfast with me.
HK: You’ve stayed in Hong Kong for 16 years. Do you enjoy local culture, like eating street food in Mong Kok or singing karaoke?
RB: I love the street food. It’s great that you can get all kinds of food from around the world here, but my favorite is xiao long bao. As for karaoke, I don’t sing, but I’m told by people that they see me in the music videos all the time. The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra does cross-overs with pop artists and I always sit next to the conductor, who is next to the artist, so you’ll see me in some of Jacky Cheung or Alan Tam’s videos.