https://www.scmp.com/rss/325278/feed Christopher Halls had an extensive career as a professional freelance violinist in Europe, the US and in his native Australia. He is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. He has been writing classical music reviews for the South China Morning Post since 2017. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Christopher Halls Christopher Halls While the benefits of raising toddlers on Mozart are compelling, Dmitri Shostakovich’s music, particularly his Symphony No 11, should be avoided at all costs. Given its highly “cinematic” depictions of war, pre-performance disclaimers such as “explicit musical content” or “listener discretion advised” would not go astray even for any uninitiated concertgoer. Of its “brutal, horrific” nature, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s music director designate Tarmo Peltokoski also addressed the 11th’s... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3351545/tarmo-peltokoski-and-leila-josefowicz-lead-hong-kong-philharmonic-thrilling-concert?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3351545/tarmo-peltokoski-and-leila-josefowicz-lead-hong-kong-philharmonic-thrilling-concert?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Apr 2026 08:18:18 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls You have to admire long-standing ensembles that still retain the spirit and sound that their original founders intended. The acclaimed Academy of St Martin in the Fields (ASMF) began its first Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) concert on Saturday, March 28, fittingly enough, with something quintessentially British: Edward Elgar’s Serenade for String Orchestra. Positioned further back on stage than most groups appearing at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall, the ASMF projected breezy wafts... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3348389/22-year-old-pianist-yunchan-lim-wows-hong-kong-arts-festival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3348389/22-year-old-pianist-yunchan-lim-wows-hong-kong-arts-festival?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 11:15:07 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls Ending the week with a requiem and a mass may sound like an overload of gravitas. Yet for their Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) concert on March 6, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his Constellation Choir and Orchestra (CCO) gave Mozart’s two sacred works a buoyancy and transparency that was more uplifting than anything else. This was the Hong Kong debut of Gardiner’s new ensemble, founded in 2024 after an unfortunate incident that led to his departure from the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, which he... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3346057/sir-john-eliot-gardiners-cco-plays-sumptuous-mozart-hong-kong-arts-festival-concert?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3346057/sir-john-eliot-gardiners-cco-plays-sumptuous-mozart-hong-kong-arts-festival-concert?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2026 07:15:07 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls “Wouldn’t you just die without Mahler?” Even if that line made famous by Rita’s flatmate Trish in the film version of Educating Rita is meant to satirise the pretentiousness of the intellectual class, the life-affirming nature of Gustav Mahler’s music is undeniable. When pondering the darker, enigmatic aspects found in his Symphony No 7, however, one can only imagine how much bleaker the piece would have turned out had the Austro-Bohemian written it during the dire years after its actual... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3341210/hk-phil-brings-mahlers-symphony-no-7-life-energetic-eerie-performance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3341210/hk-phil-brings-mahlers-symphony-no-7-life-energetic-eerie-performance?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Jan 2026 08:15:08 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls As far as concert openers go, some say the bigger the better. The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra took that to heart on December 11 by starting their Nordic-inspired programme with a downright noisy and massively orchestrated work by Finnish composer-in-residence Esa-Pekka Salonen, which was conducted by his mentee and fellow countryman Tarmo Peltokoski, also the orchestra’s music director designate. When it boiled down to a choice between Salonen’s portrayal of the eccentric Castor and his... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3336426/lang-lang-and-tarmo-peltokoski-pack-punch-concert-pushes-hk-phils-limits?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3336426/lang-lang-and-tarmo-peltokoski-pack-punch-concert-pushes-hk-phils-limits?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Dec 2025 09:15:07 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls Given the excitement surrounding Eric Lu’s victory at the 2025 International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition on October 21, it came as no surprise that the Chinese-American’s all-Chopin recital on December 7, presented by the HKU Muse Piano Laureate Series, sold out so quickly that an extra performance was added. The renowned music writer, composer and pianist Jed Distler described Lu as “a pianist who knows exactly what he wants from his instrument and how to get it”, while blogging on the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3335734/chopin-competition-winner-eric-lu-thrills-hong-kong-night-mesmerising-music?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3335734/chopin-competition-winner-eric-lu-thrills-hong-kong-night-mesmerising-music?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Dec 2025 10:15:07 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls Despite having “culture junkies” for parents, Andrea Fessler could never have foreseen becoming a champion of chamber music in Hong Kong or running a festival for small ensembles that would become an important fixture in the city’s classical music calendar. The Vancouver-raised Harvard Law School graduate and former corporate lawyer is the founder of performing arts group Premiere Performances (PPHK), which will hold the 18th and final edition of its Beare’s Premiere Music Festival, which... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3335676/hong-kong-chamber-music-festival-founder-why-its-mission-complete-ahead-final-event?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3335676/hong-kong-chamber-music-festival-founder-why-its-mission-complete-ahead-final-event?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Dec 2025 08:15:08 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls Renowned Japanese-American violinist Midori was the headline name for the November 27 recital at Hong Kong City Hall. Yet, considering the importance of the piano in the programme, it would be remiss not to mention Lithuanian pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute in the same breath. Both artists effortlessly switched back and forth between accompaniment and melody in Beethoven’s breezy Sonata for Piano and Violin No 5 in F, relishing the opening movement’s internal drama as it unfolded. Midori’s rich,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3334884/violinist-midori-works-her-magic-duo-concerts-hong-kong-city-hall?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3334884/violinist-midori-works-her-magic-duo-concerts-hong-kong-city-hall?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Dec 2025 05:00:11 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls If you think that the tradition-steeped Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia – Rome has a voluminous name, you should hear the tutti forte and fortissimo sounds of the 117-year-old ensemble. On November 20, the orchestra flaunted its full power at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre under its music director, Daniel Harding, in the first of two concerts that kicked off its Asian tour. The ensemble impressed – most notably in Rachmaninov’s beloved Symphony No 2 in E minor after the break... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3334014/champion-hong-kong-pianist-aristo-sham-joins-rome-based-orchestra-powerful-concert?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3334014/champion-hong-kong-pianist-aristo-sham-joins-rome-based-orchestra-powerful-concert?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Nov 2025 03:07:02 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls It has been a long time between drinks, as they say in America. Veteran jazz songstress Dianne Reeves last sang in Hong Kong 20 years ago, and the five-time Grammy winner made no bones about it when she sang the opening number “What’s New?” at Hong Kong’s Xiqu Centre on November 10, weaving in the line “It’s been a while, Hong Kong!” to the delight of the audience. Reeves’ return to the city was a much-anticipated highlight of the WestK Performing Arts season, and while little has changed in her... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3332778/grammy-winning-jazz-singer-dianne-reeves-returns-triumphant-hong-kong-show?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3332778/grammy-winning-jazz-singer-dianne-reeves-returns-triumphant-hong-kong-show?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Nov 2025 10:00:21 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls Anyone planning to give the gift of music for Christmas should seriously consider Aristo Sham’s new solo piano album. Timeline, released by Universal Music Hong Kong on November 7, is a thoughtfully compiled selection based on the current world tour by the 2025 Van Cliburn gold medallist. At its core are transcriptions by Ferruccio Busoni, flanked by two unadapted works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Edvard Grieg. Concert pianists generally avoid recording Bach in the pure form, possibly for fear... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3331067/pianist-aristo-shams-new-album-joyful-masterpiece-bach-grieg-and-busoni?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3331067/pianist-aristo-shams-new-album-joyful-masterpiece-bach-grieg-and-busoni?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Nov 2025 23:15:09 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls Orchestras, like all companies, never count on instant results from leadership changes. The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra know that full well, and given that their new music director, Tarmo Peltokoski, has had little podium time so far, just when and how the young Finn puts his musical stamp on things is anyone’s guess. In the meantime, though, the orchestra, in tip-top form and on the heels of a highly successful European tour with Jaap van Zweden, kicked off their 52nd season in style with... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3326353/hk-phil-open-2025/26-season-style-under-guest-conductor-daniel-harding?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3326353/hk-phil-open-2025/26-season-style-under-guest-conductor-daniel-harding?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Sep 2025 11:15:07 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls They say a week in politics can be a long time, but try 10 years in chamber music. No one can appreciate the magnitude of that commitment more than Hong Kong’s foremost string quartet, the Cong Quartet, as they reflect on a decade of challenges, member changes and the well-earned awards along the way. The quartet’s name is a combination of the founding members’ last names and a play on the fact that the players grew up in Hong Kong, where they made music together during their teenage... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3325269/cong-quartet-celebrate-10th-anniversary-past-members-and-friends-hong-kong-concert?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3325269/cong-quartet-celebrate-10th-anniversary-past-members-and-friends-hong-kong-concert?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Sep 2025 08:13:49 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls Chances were that even if pianist Aristo Sham Ching-tao had shown up for his first homecoming recital and only played variations on “Happy Birthday”, the audience would have been just as enraptured. On the heels of the Hongkonger’s triumph at the prestigious and famously gruelling Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in June, it was no surprise that tickets for his two HKU Muse concerts at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) were snapped up like hot cakes after Sunday mass. The 29-year-old... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3324681/pianist-aristo-sham-wows-hong-kong-audience-bach-ravel-and-rachmaninov-recital?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3324681/pianist-aristo-sham-wows-hong-kong-audience-bach-ravel-and-rachmaninov-recital?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Sep 2025 07:15:07 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls Even without the flutes of bubbly normally featured in Viennese operettas, there are plenty of good reasons the 150-year-old musical genre is dubbed “champagne opera”. The effervescent delight of the songs, dance, intrigue and lighthearted shenanigans is timeless. But for the 19th-century art form to still hit the spot, it has to sparkle with spontaneity while preserving its classical soul. Opera Hong Kong’s semi-staged presentation of Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow made for a fun night out –... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3322232/opera-hong-kongs-merry-widow-entertains-fails-capture-soul-original?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3322232/opera-hong-kongs-merry-widow-entertains-fails-capture-soul-original?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Aug 2025 10:15:08 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls The secret to a good story is, as they say, in the telling. Legendary Russian pianist Mikhail Pletnev wasted no time telling his tale to a packed audience in Hong Kong on June 17, launching into the Shigeru Kawai grand piano the very second he sat down. His recital was made up of two clearly opposed halves. The first saw his subdued yet thoughtful expressions of pathos and beauty in two of Beethoven’s pillar sonatas, while a vivid depiction of Nordic nostalgia in a selection of Grieg’s Lyric... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3315224/russian-pianist-mikhail-pletnev-plays-subdued-beethoven-and-colourful-grieg-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3315224/russian-pianist-mikhail-pletnev-plays-subdued-beethoven-and-colourful-grieg-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Jun 2025 11:15:06 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls Given all the pianists out there who have been dubbed “poets of the keyboard”, the phrase has become a little tiresome. But its use is justified when applied to a musician of the calibre of 24-year-old Canadian pianist Tony Siqi Yun. Musical poetry was front and centre in Yun’s self-curated recital at Hong Kong City Hall on June 4 of works whose themes include death, madness and redemption. Yun began with Brahms’ lyrical Four Ballades Op. 10, which take a more literal approach to the genre than... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3313375/pianist-tony-siqi-yun-produces-poetry-hong-kong-recital-some-dark-themes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3313375/pianist-tony-siqi-yun-produces-poetry-hong-kong-recital-some-dark-themes?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Jun 2025 04:45:07 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang made it clear his concert with the Dover Quartet had concluded when he closed the lid of the Steinway grand piano in the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall following a monumental rendition of César Franck’s Piano Quintet in F minor. Despite the rapturous applause that followed a display of unceasing modulations, constant harmonic movement and more pianissimos and fortissimos than are heard in most chamber music performances, an encore would have been as out of place... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3310261/no-holds-barred-pianist-haochen-zhang-and-dover-quartets-french-may-hong-kong-concert?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3310261/no-holds-barred-pianist-haochen-zhang-and-dover-quartets-french-may-hong-kong-concert?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 May 2025 09:15:09 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls Unlike sporting teams that forgo their treasured home ground advantage when playing away from home, touring orchestras can reap the benefits of performing at venues with better acoustics than their own. That was the case recently when the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra performed in the acoustically bright Concert Hall of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing with Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi at the helm and Bomsori Kim as violin soloist. To hear the Hong Kong Phil at... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3306099/beijing-halls-acoustics-benefit-hk-phil-concert-part-and-prokofiev-bomsori-kim?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3306099/beijing-halls-acoustics-benefit-hk-phil-concert-part-and-prokofiev-bomsori-kim?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Apr 2025 09:15:15 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls The finest craftsmen hone their skills and consistently strive for the highest quality, and the Hungarian-British pianist Andras Schiff does the same in music, whether at the keyboard or when directing ensembles from it. For the 53rd Hong Kong Arts Festival, the 71-year-old performed with his ensemble Capella Andrea Barca, comprising selected Europe-based musicians and wittily named after the Italian translation of Andras and Schiff – the German word for ship. His reputation for perfection was... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3303278/refined-mozart-and-bach-andras-schiff-and-cappella-andrea-barca-hong-kong-concerts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3303278/refined-mozart-and-bach-andras-schiff-and-cappella-andrea-barca-hong-kong-concerts?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Mar 2025 08:45:07 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls Rarely do string quartets perform works of the Classical period and beyond on pure gut strings. These are made with fibres extracted from either sheep or cow intestines and one associates them with early instruments used for the performance of Baroque music of the 17th and 18th centuries. The customary choice for later works is “modern” strings that are wound with steel; these are less prone to temperature changes while producing enough sound to fill larger spaces. Despite the challenges in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3300995/chiaroscuro-quartets-playing-beethoven-and-schubert-revelation-hong-kong-debut?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3300995/chiaroscuro-quartets-playing-beethoven-and-schubert-revelation-hong-kong-debut?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Mar 2025 09:15:08 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls Siberian-born pianist Pavel Kolesnikov is known to have a surprise or two up his sleeve. To highlight the “outrageous” side of Mozart’s music on February 19 in his Hong Kong City Hall recital, he chose to sport a supremely unflattering, baggy frog-green suit. While it was an odd choice – although one best left to the fashion writers – his imaginative and thought-provoking juxtaposition of works by Mozart and Ravel was an eye-opener of far greater substance. Just as eye-opening was Kolesnikov’s... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3299909/pavel-kolesnikov-hong-kong-sinfonietta-deliver-fluid-buoyant-beethoven-piano-concerto?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3299909/pavel-kolesnikov-hong-kong-sinfonietta-deliver-fluid-buoyant-beethoven-piano-concerto?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Feb 2025 09:45:08 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls Premiering a new composition alongside a warhorse of the orchestral repertoire is an approach often taken to strike a balance between challenging and pacifying concertgoers. Yet the myth that contemporary music is difficult was soon put to rest by the Hong Kong Philharmonic and soloist Esther Yoo in their performance of Raymond Yiu’s Violin Concerto. A four-movement tribute to Chinese violinist and composer Ma Sicong (1912-87), the work received its Asian premiere at the Hong Kong Cultural... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3298958/hk-phil-and-van-zweden-excel-rachmaninov-and-raymond-yiu-premiere-esther-yoo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3298958/hk-phil-and-van-zweden-excel-rachmaninov-and-raymond-yiu-premiere-esther-yoo?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Feb 2025 06:15:08 +0000 Christopher Halls Christopher Halls Regular Hong Kong concertgoers know the annual Beare’s Premiere Music Festival serves up a feast of the finest chamber music performances, played on some of the rarest stringed instruments in existence. The 2025 festival, which also featured talks, masterclasses, exhibitions, educational outreach programmes and open rehearsals, wrapped up on January 22 with a concert titled “La Belle Époque”. This was a period of enlightenment and cultural innovation in late 19th century France, and one in which... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3296091/2025-beares-premiere-music-festival-hong-kong-ends-high-note?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3296091/2025-beares-premiere-music-festival-hong-kong-ends-high-note?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Jan 2025 09:15:07 +0000 Musically speaking, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s latest Swire Maestro Series concert was a case of light emerging victorious from the ashes. The world premiere of Angus Lee’s … aux cendres, which means “from the ashes”, made for a somewhat eerie and desolate opening to a concert billed for the participation of conductor Elim Chan and violinist James Ehnes, but it also offered a soundscape full of textural interest. Lee, a Hong Kong composer and flautist commissioned by the Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3288115/elim-chan-magician-brilliant-prokofiev-symphony-no-5-hk-phil?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3288115/elim-chan-magician-brilliant-prokofiev-symphony-no-5-hk-phil?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Nov 2024 03:15:10 +0000 It is almost unimaginable that a programme billed as “Czech Classics” could exclude any music by Dvorak and then be capped off with Mozart to boot. Be that as it may, the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong (CCOHK) still managed to fulfil its billing on October 24 by featuring works by a handful of other quintessential Czechs. Granted, the Mozart concerto stuck out like the proverbial sore thumb in this celebration of “A Year of Czech Music” at Hong Kong City Hall, but it did serve to showcase... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3284175/showcase-czech-music-oboe-and-harp-deftly-led-hong-kong-conductor-sharon-choa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3284175/showcase-czech-music-oboe-and-harp-deftly-led-hong-kong-conductor-sharon-choa?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Oct 2024 09:45:12 +0000 Those who have delved into the world of historically informed performance in music sometimes scoff at modern concert pianists performing Baroque music. Given that the keyboard instrument of George Frideric Handel’s day was the harpsichord, the Steinway grand piano can come across as a rather crude encroachment on “authentic” territory. Fortunately, Chinese-American pianist Eric Lu retained enough Baroque sensibility in the Grand Hall of the University of Hong Kong on October 4, where he opened... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3281369/chinese-american-pianist-eric-lu-revels-chopin-hong-kong-recital-debut?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3281369/chinese-american-pianist-eric-lu-revels-chopin-hong-kong-recital-debut?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Oct 2024 09:15:08 +0000 When asked by his disciple Ji Lu about serving the spirits of the dead, Confucius said, “While you are not able to serve men, how can you serve their spirits?” For his 2016 work The Master Said, for narrator and chamber orchestra, British composer Alexander Goehr chose this and six other sayings of the Chinese philosopher from James Legge’s English translation of the Analects to be read in between sections of music; the work comprises seven adagios and a final allegro, and is reminiscent of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3265146/sibelius-concerto-tests-violinist-goehrs-confucius-confuses-us-despite-conviction-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3265146/sibelius-concerto-tests-violinist-goehrs-confucius-confuses-us-despite-conviction-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Jun 2024 03:15:09 +0000 Of all the odd words used to describe the sound of the cello as a solo instrument, composer Antonin Dvořák surely took the cake when he referred to its “nasal high register” and its “mumbling bass”. They were thoroughly given the lie by the array of cello sounds that Bulgarian-Chinese cellist Zlatomir Fung conjured in his brilliant recital with Hong Kong pianist Rachel Cheung at Hong Kong City Hall on April 17. With technique to burn and ample musicality, 25-year-old Fung has a deft bow... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3259879/bulgarian-chinese-cellist-zlatomir-fung-brilliant-recital-hong-kong-pianist-rachel-cheung?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3259879/bulgarian-chinese-cellist-zlatomir-fung-brilliant-recital-hong-kong-pianist-rachel-cheung?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Apr 2024 08:15:13 +0000 From the exuberance of a fiesta to expressions of profound despair, the Hong Kong Philharmonic hit the mark at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre on Good Friday. Returning after last year’s Sibelius and Liszt concert, Estonian maestro Paavo Järvi led a diverse, all-Russian programme featuring Stravinsky’s violin concerto with soloist Alena Baeva, and two popular orchestral works by Rimsky-Korsakov and Shostakovich. Rimsky-Korsakov sought musical inspiration from the sunny South just as compatriots... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3257434/hong-kong-philharmonic-and-paavo-jarvis-shattering-shostakovich-5-caps-all-russian-programme?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3257434/hong-kong-philharmonic-and-paavo-jarvis-shattering-shostakovich-5-caps-all-russian-programme?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Apr 2024 08:45:29 +0000 When a composer who is equally at home writing music for the Chinese sheng (a mouth-blown reed instrument) as he is keyboards or works to be sung a cappella produces a piece for drum set, bass guitar and full orchestra, the question of whether cross-genre fusion could turn into confusion inevitably arises. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case on March 23 in Hong Kong Sinfonietta’s diverse and jam-packed Hong Kong Arts Festival concert at Hong Kong City Hall. Fly LIVE! and An Array of Stars by Hong... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3256876/japanese-drummer-senri-kawaguchi-steals-show-fusion-concert-hong-kong-sinfonietta?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3256876/japanese-drummer-senri-kawaguchi-steals-show-fusion-concert-hong-kong-sinfonietta?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Mar 2024 09:45:18 +0000 Stravinsky once sneered that the ever-modish Vivaldi wrote the same concerto five hundred times. Clearly, the Russian modernist’s concept of originality was worlds away from that of the Italian baroque. It was a particularly low blow given the degree of innovation in works such as L’estro armonico (which means harmonic inspiration), performed by Concerto Italiano as part of the Hong Kong Arts Festival on March 9. Rinaldo Alessandrini’s formidable Rome-based period instrument ensemble presented... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3255961/feast-string-playing-hong-kong-arts-festival-concerts-concerto-italiano-playing-vivaldi-and-festival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3255961/feast-string-playing-hong-kong-arts-festival-concerts-concerto-italiano-playing-vivaldi-and-festival?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Mar 2024 08:22:12 +0000 Of the tiresome terms in classical music, “prodigy” has to be right up there. No one knows that better than the gifted all-rounder Alma Deutscher, who wrote her first piano sonata at the age of six, her first opera at the age of 10 and was hailed as a great talent before she turned 12. Now that she is 18, the British-born conductor, composer, violinist and pianist can finally ditch the “p” word label and move on as an artist. In a concert on February 4 with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3251092/teenager-alma-deutscher-shows-shes-rare-talent-composer-conductor-pianist-and-violinist-city-chamber?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3251092/teenager-alma-deutscher-shows-shes-rare-talent-composer-conductor-pianist-and-violinist-city-chamber?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Feb 2024 09:15:11 +0000 Just as top chefs layer flavours to make their dishes shine, pianists who take on Franz Schubert’s sonatas need to bring out the complex layering of his musical ideas. Paul Lewis knows exactly how to do that and which voices to bring to the fore. Performing at the University of Hong Kong on January 27 and 28, the former student of Alfred Brendel wrapped up the four-part “Schubert’s 12 Piano Sonatas with Paul Lewis” concert series with memorable renditions of six sonatas, including the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3250156/schubert-recital-series-hong-kong-pianist-paul-lewis-brings-out-complex-layering-composers-musical?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3250156/schubert-recital-series-hong-kong-pianist-paul-lewis-brings-out-complex-layering-composers-musical?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Jan 2024 08:25:11 +0000 Drawing a laugh from an audience at a string quartet recital is rare. But given the wave and holler of “Hello” from the second violinist that indicates movement “3½” of Microfictions by American composer Caroline Shaw, the chuckles came as no surprise. Her six miniatures, dedicated to and premiered in Asia by the Miró Quartet at the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall on January 15, were inspired by science fiction prose posted online by T.R. Darling during a Covid-19 lockdown. Their playing... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3249182/chamber-music-excellence-miro-quartet-chinese-violinist-ning-feng-and-others-hong-kongs-beares?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3249182/chamber-music-excellence-miro-quartet-chinese-violinist-ning-feng-and-others-hong-kongs-beares?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Jan 2024 09:15:12 +0000 When it comes to the big-name soloists in classical music, Hong Kong has certainly had its fair share of late. The steady stream of stars has included American violinists Joshua Bell and Hilary Hahn, the Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos, Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder, and in November, the cellist and humanitarian Yo-Yo Ma. The latest soloist to appear with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, on December 15 and 17 under the baton of its music director, Jaap van Zweden, was – as billed – “piano... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3245436/piano-megastar-lang-lang-shows-his-wizardry-beethoven-concerto-hong-kong-philharmonic-and-jaap-van?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3245436/piano-megastar-lang-lang-shows-his-wizardry-beethoven-concerto-hong-kong-philharmonic-and-jaap-van?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Dec 2023 08:15:07 +0000 Variety is the spice of life. When a new ensemble emerges and offers something beyond the customary “meat-and-two-veg” billing (a symphony preceded by an overture and concerto) of the flagship orchestras, it adds richness to the music scene. The Musicus Soloists of Hong Kong, an ensemble launched in 2022 by the Musicus Society and its founder, acclaimed cellist Trey Lee, should be commended both for their selection of repertoire and their performance at the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall on... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3242586/young-violin-soloist-captivates-arvo-part-work-hong-kong-string-ensemble-veteran-piano-soloist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3242586/young-violin-soloist-captivates-arvo-part-work-hong-kong-string-ensemble-veteran-piano-soloist?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Nov 2023 09:45:07 +0000 Just as great orators lend words the power to inspire, the best instrumental soloists turn music into persuasive arguments. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, in his appearance with the Hong Kong Philharmonic on November 9, had plenty to say and knew just how to deliver it. Under the baton of Jaap van Zweden, the American-Chinese superstar performed Dvorak’s revered cello concerto with the orchestra in a special concert to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Chinese University of Hong Kong. Given the anticipation... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3241004/rock-star-welcome-yo-yo-ma-concert-hong-kong-philharmonic-and-cellist-doesnt-disappoint-sublime?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3241004/rock-star-welcome-yo-yo-ma-concert-hong-kong-philharmonic-and-cellist-doesnt-disappoint-sublime?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Nov 2023 03:28:07 +0000 There was plenty of music for your buck in the Hong Kong Sinfonietta’s concert at Hong Kong City Hall on October 21 – two violin concertos, including a Hong Kong premiere, and two symphonies to boot. In the all-Mozart first half, the Sinfonietta produced a refreshingly light and buoyant sound under their music director, Christoph Poppen. They showed stylistic poise in the composer’s Symphony No 33, then paired well with German violinist Veronika Eberle in an effervescent and nuanced rendition of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3238879/immaculate-mozart-concerto-compelling-hosokawa-premiere-violinist-veronika-eberle-and-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3238879/immaculate-mozart-concerto-compelling-hosokawa-premiere-violinist-veronika-eberle-and-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Oct 2023 09:25:37 +0000 When a recital programme includes two fiendishly demanding piano sonatas, you can expect the soloist to both have the technical chops and the musical stamina to pull it off. In a refreshingly unshowy, fuss-free manner, acclaimed British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor did just that and more at Hong Kong City Hall in Central on Hong Kong Island, bringing the full house down in Friday’s Premiere Performances concert of Hungarian composer Franz Liszt and Polish composer Frederic Chopin. Chopin spared... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3236502/british-pianist-benjamin-grosvenors-chopin-and-liszt-recital-hong-kong-brings-house-down?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3236502/british-pianist-benjamin-grosvenors-chopin-and-liszt-recital-hong-kong-brings-house-down?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Oct 2023 09:15:09 +0000 When it comes to portraying our wondrous planet in music, composers past and present would seem to have it covered. But the Asian premiere of The Elements on Saturday was special. Conceived by American star violinist Joshua Bell early on in the coronavirus pandemic and commissioned from five contemporary US composers, it celebrates the five elements: earth, water, fire, air and space. Despite water showing its destructive side in Hong Kong last week, a swift and efficient postponement of the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3234105/hk-phils-fabulous-tchaikovsky-4th-violinist-joshua-bells-fire-and-finesse-new-work-elements-open?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3234105/hk-phils-fabulous-tchaikovsky-4th-violinist-joshua-bells-fire-and-finesse-new-work-elements-open?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Sep 2023 08:15:07 +0000 Even if the New York Philharmonic’s first Hong Kong concert had not coincided with American Independence Day, it was a sure bet that one of the world’s finest orchestras – and, having been founded in 1842, one of its oldest – would set off musical fireworks. In their July 4 concert, the first of two at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, star violinist Hilary Hahn captivated with a highly polished performance of Brahms’ Violin Concerto under the baton of music director Jaap van Zweden – who holds the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3227123/new-york-philharmonic-and-violinist-hilary-hahn-hong-kong-polished-brahms-concerto-pyrotechnic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3227123/new-york-philharmonic-and-violinist-hilary-hahn-hong-kong-polished-brahms-concerto-pyrotechnic?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Jul 2023 20:15:09 +0000 It’s not often that violinists can engage an audience with delectable sound quality and flawless technique for an entire concert. But young American-Korean musician Esther Yoo did just that on June 5 on her Hong Kong recital debut. With a musicality that belies her years, the 28-year-old, educated in Belgium and Germany, is living proof that a multicultural musical upbringing can reap great rewards. Moreover, with Chinese star pianist Zee Zee on the keys, the “Dynamic Duo” – as concert presenter... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3223500/dynamic-duo-violinist-esther-yoo-and-pianist-zee-zee-live-their-billing-dazzling-recital-works?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3223500/dynamic-duo-violinist-esther-yoo-and-pianist-zee-zee-live-their-billing-dazzling-recital-works?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Jun 2023 09:15:13 +0000 In chamber music, I thee wed. As the Verona Quartet’s violist Abigail Rojansky pointed out in her preface to the group’s Hong Kong debut, string quartets are often compared to marriages because of the intimacy of group dynamics. The 10-year-old ensemble has been winning awards and getting rave reviews for daring to transcend categories and for telling engaging “stories” about music – classical and contemporary. The name is a tribute to William Shakespeare rather than to the Italian city. In... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3222277/verona-quartet-bring-house-down-hong-kong-debut-part-le-french-may-stellar-beethoven-ravel-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3222277/verona-quartet-bring-house-down-hong-kong-debut-part-le-french-may-stellar-beethoven-ravel-and?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 May 2023 08:45:15 +0000 Had 360-degree feedback been a thing in the late 18th century, Austrian composer Joseph Haydn’s work appraisals would have topped the charts when he was head of the musical establishment at Esterházy Palace, dubbed the “Hungarian Versailles”. Left largely to his own devices by a musical prince with abundant resources, it was little wonder that “Papa” Haydn – a fitting nickname for the undisputed father of the classical symphony and inventor of the string quartet – could deliver inspired and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3218974/excerpts-haydn-performed-costume-city-chamber-orchestra-hong-kong-entertaining-affair-some-musical?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3218974/excerpts-haydn-performed-costume-city-chamber-orchestra-hong-kong-entertaining-affair-some-musical?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 May 2023 08:15:12 +0000 It’s still anybody’s guess as to who will succeed Jaap van Zweden as music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 2024. And that question became more pointed after another illustrious guest conductor took to the podium of the Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Eminent Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi was up this time, directing the HK Phil in a superb account of Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No 5. With all the majesty and undulating contours of a mighty river – as the Finnish composer himself... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3216537/paavo-jarvi-precise-and-poised-superb-sibelius-hk-phil-chinese-pianist-zee-zee-plays-her-part-no?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3216537/paavo-jarvi-precise-and-poised-superb-sibelius-hk-phil-chinese-pianist-zee-zee-plays-her-part-no?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Apr 2023 09:15:13 +0000 Maurice Ravel famously said of his own Sonata for violin and piano that both instruments are “essentially incompatible”. But when German violinist Isabelle Faust and Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov took to the stage of the Grand Hall of the Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre at the University of Hong Kong to perform the complete cycle of Beethoven’s 10 sonatas for piano and violin over the weekend, the long-standing chamber music partners proved their compatibility of sound and musicality many times... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3216051/isabelle-faust-alexander-melnikov-masterful-beethovens-10-violin-sonatas-their-playing-shedding-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3216051/isabelle-faust-alexander-melnikov-masterful-beethovens-10-violin-sonatas-their-playing-shedding-new?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Apr 2023 09:45:14 +0000 There’s been an abundance of diverse, top-notch performing arts events in Hong Kong of late, and pianist Pavel Kolesnikov’s concert with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta was no exception. It opened on an intriguing note with the world premiere of Hong Kong composer Lam Lai’s There is No Place like Home (Beta). The composer – performing herself as electronics soloist with conductor the orchestra under the baton of Yip Wing-sie – took the sell-out audience on an imaginary 12-year journey from Earth to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3213341/pavel-kolesnikov-and-hong-kong-sinfoniettas-resounding-rach-3-moving-shostakovich-strings-and-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3213341/pavel-kolesnikov-and-hong-kong-sinfoniettas-resounding-rach-3-moving-shostakovich-strings-and-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Mar 2023 08:45:15 +0000 “Dazzle” is a cringeworthy title for a world-class chamber music recital, especially when Schubert’s emotionally charged “Death and the Maiden” quartet is the main feature. Fortunately, the award-winning Esmé Quartet showed deep insight into the music as well as dazzling the audience with their brilliance in their Hong Kong Arts Festival concert on February 28. Superb artistry and near flawless intonation marked the Esmé’s performance of three quartets – the others were by Haydn and Borodin. It... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3212090/death-and-maiden-ages-esme-quartet-their-dazzling-hong-kong-recital-debut-stand-violist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3212090/death-and-maiden-ages-esme-quartet-their-dazzling-hong-kong-recital-debut-stand-violist?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Mar 2023 10:45:10 +0000 Can a historically informed performance of music written 200 years ago deliver an entirely authentic sound experience given the absence of recordings? Obviously not. Then again, historical replication is not the only name of the game. As conductor Laurence Equilbey pointed out in the programme notes for the all-Beethoven concert performed in Hong Kong on February 25 by the period instrument orchestra Insula, the Accentus choir and piano soloist Yuan Sheng, “learning where the expression and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3211665/beethoven-period-instruments-mixed-success-cavernous-hong-kong-concert-hall-chinese-pianist-yuan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3211665/beethoven-period-instruments-mixed-success-cavernous-hong-kong-concert-hall-chinese-pianist-yuan?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Feb 2023 09:45:07 +0000