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Oliver Chou

A Paean to Peace
Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra
Cultural Centre Concert Hall
Three massive musical works about war and peace became the unifying force for two orchestras - from Hong Kong and Taiwan - and seven choruses, about two weeks after national celebrations marking the end of the second world war in Asia.
At the same time, the performance heralded the 39th concert season for the city's flagship ensemble, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra.
Its new season got off on a big note when 22 members of the National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan joined their Hong Kong counterparts and choruses on Friday, making up 300 performers in all.
It was also the Hong Kong orchestra's first concert featuring a new roster of principal players after an aborted coup by three of its veteran string players against the leadership early this year. Their absences did not seem to affect the sections they led.
The show started with a brief ceremony that saw the orchestra play an excerpt of the famous folk song, Jasmine Flower. As the music climaxed, Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah and the orchestra's council chairwoman Carlye Tsui struck a big gong to kick off the 2015-16 concert season.
Following that was Ode to Peace by composer Zhao Jiping, chairman of China's Musicians Association. The work had been commissioned a decade ago - for the 60th anniversary of the end of the war that took the Hong Kong orchestra to the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Ten years on, the emotionally charged passages remained musically tense, especially with the five-movement work played in its entirety.
The concert drew its theme, A Paean to Peace, from the title of a new piece by Hong Kong veteran composer Chen Neng-chi.
Audiences were treated to ear-pleasing melodies with simple harmony. The rhythmic claps by the junior choristers were effective in livening up the atmosphere, while Rupert Chan's lyrics took a clever twist to shift the focus from war to the environment, ending with a resounding wish for harmony between man and nature.
No concert about the conflict with Japan would be complete without the Yellow River Cantata. Home-grown soloists displayed artistic talent that did not pale in comparison to imported artists.


Hong Kong, Taiwan orchestras combine to offer a paean to peace

Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra opens the 39th season at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall in a performance with members of the National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan and 7 choruses from Hong Kong to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Second World War. Photo: Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra

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