New to classical music? Fear that attending performances in concert halls is too formal or too serious? “Classical in Cinema” is the answer to these questions. It provides live video recordings of great musicians, orchestras and conductors, showing in local cinemas with affordable prices.

Days ago I went to the show of “3 Stars in Vienna” with anticipation, and it did not bring disappointment. Under the beautiful open setting of Schönbrunn Palace, the Radio Symphonieorchester Wien showcased their strength and cooperated well with the “3 Stars” Anna Netrebko, Plácido Domingo and Rolando Villazón. And I believe the charisma and power of the “3 Stars” are not to be questioned; from their voices, works by Puccini, Wagner, Rossini and other composers all glittered and sparkled, and they brightened the starry night of Vienna, as well as the hearts of the audience in and out of the big screen.

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Aix-en-Provence, 2nd Feb 2011.

Most people have their favourite place, favourite wine, favourite composer. Here, I would like to share my favourite recording.

Nearly a decade ago, I acquired from Brenda Lucas herself some recordings and manuscripts of her late husband John Ogdon, the great British pianist who won the 1962 Tchaikovski International Piano Concerto jointly with Vladimir Ashkenazy. One of the recordings was a rare recording of Brahms’ first piano concerto with the American Symphony Orchestra conducted by the legendary Leopold Stokowski, who is well known for conducting without a baton and for his appearance in Disney’s original Fantasia.

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文化得以傳承，是基於旅遊（Travel），多於傳統（Tradition）。

有人說，香港人不了解自己的城市。也許吧。若非上週末跟隨香港藝術節遊走銅鑼灣，也不知道香港有這麼多形形式式的教堂：位於跑馬地，有著羅馬風格、古典復興式的聖瑪加利大堂；古僕典雅、經歷二次大戰日軍炮火仍屹立不搖的基督君王小堂；表演文化融和、以中國文藝復興式建設的聖公會聖馬利亞堂。這些教堂默默地與銅鑼灣的繁囂共生逾半世紀，不卑不亢。柔揚的聖樂，悄悄地滲出老舊卻堅毅的混凝土牆壁，擁抱每一個願意駐足舉目觀看的人。

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Tuesday 25 January 2011. Concert Hall, HK City Hall

With a slight divergence from mainstream classical concert programmes, City Chamber Orchestra Hong Kong’s choice of performances captures a fuller audience base with diversified tastes. A counter-tenor recital featuring early vocal works is definitely something rare in Hong Kong, and yet it seems to attract a promising portion of knowledgable audience- it is all of a sudden so refreshing to see the general observance of standard concert dress code again.

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Geneva, 27th November 2010.

A year so dominated by the economic downturn in the West and the rise of China epitomized by the Shanghai Expo in the East, few may have noticed that this year marks the 170th birthday of Pyotr Tchaikovski, the great composer from 19th century Russia, a tsarist empire spanning both East and West and symbolized by a coat of arms of a two-headed eagle. Of Ukrainian descent and educated in St. Petersburg, Tchaikovski is widely considered as one of the greatest composers in the romantic period. He is commemorated with statues in Ukraine as well as in Russia, such as the one in front of the Moscow Conservatory (Fig. 1), and other places.

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The Snowman and the Bear (City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong)

5PM, Sunday 5 December 2010. Concert Hall, HK City Hall

As a pre-Christmas concert for children, featuring a narration of two children’s beloved tales with muted animation and a live orchestra for the sound effects, I’d say this is a rather unique concert experience of mine, in a way that this is much more light-hearted and relaxed. The semi-formal opening with the addition of a surprising release of music before the conductor had finished bowing, narrators’ interactive conversation with the little minds, the enlightening visit of the Santa Clause all seemed tailor-made for the young eyes. Breaking through the standard all-black dress code, the colourful concert outfit of orchestral members also matched the festive mood of the occasion. Most of the time the orchestra aligned well with the animation and the narrator, in which none of the children listeners had made any noises throughout the entire concert (well, except one or two got too frightened by the white bear and had to be escorted out of the venue howling)! Their eyes firmly attached to the screen, ears to the live music, the children were most attentive to the adventurous animation. And I, as a young adult, quite enjoyed the flying scenes too.

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I’m not sure what I was expecting when I decided to board Windstar Cruises for my first music cruise, but it definitely exceeded whatever I had in mind. To be frank, I boarded the cruise ship extremely naïve. For one, it was my first time on a boat. Second, I had only discovered my passion for classical music 1 month before. I was looking forward to two weeks off high school to be surrounded by music I loved, new places, and new faces.

On the first night at sea, I was greeted by the sound of the English Chamber Orchestra playing Mozart, Debussy, Massenet and Cimarosa. I had never been so close to the musicians in a live performance before and I loved it. The music was beautiful and I hoped it would last all night. After, I enjoyed socializing with the fellow music lovers and making new friends.

The next day was a day at sea and I attended a talk to Claire Jones, the official harpist to the Prince of Wales, about the harp. It was fascinating. I had never known that the harp could be such a complicated instrument to play! All my life I had thought it a simple instrument where one only strummed strings. How wrong I was when there are seven pedals to control with the feet and different ways of playing each string!

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I love the violin for its incredible emotive range. With a violin in hand, a master can paint so many pictures: a romp through a field, a sun-dappled parlour, a stately march, a manic pandemonium. Or nature in full bloom, as was captured in this year’s theme for the Hong Kong International Chamber Music Festival 2010 – ‘music in nature’.

I attended the Gala Opening and Closing Concerts, both of which took place in early July at City Hall. Taking my seat in the Concert Hall, I observed a varied audience, ranging from grandpas to children and from business casual to leopard print. The musicians gathered were equally varied, with some from Europe joining others from Hong Kong and China.

Together, they delivered programmes that featured mostly string ensembles, although several other instruments were included as well. The pieces fit well with this year’s theme, perhaps with the exception of Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67, which appeared in the Closing Concert. But I am getting ahead of myself.

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