I took my mother to Taipei for a short holiday and as usual, was on the lookout for classical music events.

When I read online about a major event dedicated to Tyzen Hsiao, praised by the local media as “Taiwan’s Rachmaninov” and “Taiwan’s last Romantic poet of the piano”, I did not think twice, and got us two tickets for the concert, to be held at National Concert Hall.

The Concert Hall exhibits typical Chinese features and stands majestically at Liberty Square. The pipe organ, purportedly the largest one in Asia when installed in 1987, is indeed very imposing and intimidating from the stage; in fact, the whole place is quite grand compared to other venues I have been to in Asia.

The concert started with the Piano Concerto in C minor, performed by Chiao-Ying Chang, and accompanied by NSO (National Symphony Orchestra) under the baton of Wen-Pin Chien.

I was impressed by the serene musicality and the harmonic richness of the work. The composer’s similarities with Rachmaninov were obvious in terms of melody and structure, but unlike his celebrated alter ego, there were no real highlights or phrases catchy enough to be remembered.

The second part started with the Cello Concerto in C, performed by Lana Hsiung. The cello’s solo introduction was dramatic, and immediately, followed by a flow of lyrical and expressive passages. The whole piece was beautiful and interesting, but unfortunately, not deeply engaging.
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Anna, Anna, Sacrée Nana!

Anna Nebretko is known to be a star in the opera world.

But nowadays, record companies have become so proficient in marketing and “creating” artists, so to speak, with digitally enhanced images, glamorous makeup and wardrobe, “technically” improved sound and more, that the classical music “stars” have become not so different from the manufactured starlets and supermodels of popular media.

Reality is cruel however, and most of the time these subjects suffer from average talent and a distinct lack of personality. Besides a marketable face (Lang Lang perhaps being the exception), what they have to offer is ferocious ambition, and not much else.



So before hearing Nebretko perform live, I will confess to having doubts about her ability. I went to watch her perform Donizetti’s L’Elixir d’Amour at the Opera Bastille, which did not help her cause, as I’ve never been a big fan of the venue. It was built during François Mitterrand’s era, and the French president sought to create a “modern and popular” venue to share classical music with the masses.

Though the venue was modern in its time, it hasn’t aged well, with a cold and bland interior that seems devoid of personality, and the acoustics are unfortunately a bit disappointing for an opera house.
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After a prolonged gestation, Interlude was finally launched on Wednesday, January 6th, 2010. This is actually the day that I started sending out my first announcement emails.
 
First, I want to thank all those of you who gave me extremely valuable comments and suggestions. Among the most interesting ones was a suggestion for special section for children with recommendations on events, composers and pieces.
 
Or, perhaps, the need to add a “New to Classical Music” section where more experienced music lovers can guide the “younger” ones into the appreciation of music.
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I debated whether I should go to the Beijing Music Festival or not, as I had just returned from over four weeks of traveling in Europe, which included the Queen Elisabeth Musical Voyage, and was looking forward to some peaceful rest time at home.

Nevertheless, I decided at the last minute that if I missed the opportunity to go this time, I would have to wait another year before the next festival, therefore, even if it is only for two days, it’s still worth the effort.

The BMF has a very well-designed website that is clear with all programme details, but is absolutely useless in terms of tickets sales for non locals – I ended up having to go through friends and connections in order to get tickets for concerts.

My unique first BMF experience was held at the Poly Theatre, a venue with no charm or character, or for that matter, acoustics fit for any decent classical music concert.

On that evening’s program was the violinist Sarah Chang with the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields.

Sarah Chang has always been one of my favorite violinists. My first encounter with her talent was through the DVD Spanish Night, filmed when she performed with the Berliner Philarmoniker under the baton of Placido Domingo. At the time, I remember thinking: what a charming, delicious young lady, and the playing was pure delight.

A few years later, I heard her live with the English Chamber Orchestra in Shanghai, and again I was completely under her charm.

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China’s Prolific Arts Venues: A Ray of Hope or a Ruinous White Elephant?

Western media has expressed awe at the prodigious number of piano students that are emerging from China, while foreign agencies and orchestras are amazed by the rapid increase in theatres and concert hall venues in the last decade. These impressive numbers have led the world to conclude – somewhat erroneously – that the future of classical music lies in China.
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Queen Elisabeth Musical Voyage

There’s an old saying that declares cruises are either for newlyweds or the nearly dead – I am of neither category, but yet I have always loved cruises. It isn’t a passion for the sea or the need to pursue any water sport that fuels this penchant; but I do love the idea of visiting numerous different places without the burden and stress of packing and unpacking.



I chose to travel this time with the Queen Elisabeth College of Music, an encore voyage after a most memorable first in October of 2007. Back in 2007, I saw an advertisement in the now-defunct French classical-music magazine, Le Monde de la Musique, describing a music-themed journey on board the Silver Cloud, one of the Silversea fleet. Historically, music cruises seem to have been held on decent (if average) ships, so the fact that the College had chosen Silversea, one of the best cruise lines in the world, to host this experience, was a sign that the sophistication was going to be kicked up a notch.
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This summer, Hong Kong’s music enthusiasts were excited to witness the first Hong Kong International Chamber Music Festival, organised by Premiere Performances of Hong Kong under the artistic direction of cellist Trey Lee.

During the four-day festival in June, 10 musicians from around the world performed an extensive programme that included works by major chamber-music composers such as Brahms and Dvorak, as well as contemporary Finnish and Argentinean tango.

The Hong Kong City Hall Theatre is the perfect venue for intimate and cosy performances, creating the very essence of a “chamber”-like atmosphere. All of the performances were held here.

The festival opened with Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E major, a beautiful piece full of colours, and right from the first notes I was impressed and awakened by the energy of the five young musicians. They are all talented artists, and their performance showed the enthusiasm and passion they have for the music.

Over the course of the festival I listened to Schumann, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Turina, Poulenc, Faure and others – a well-planned programme presenting an overview of chamber music, with most pieces familiar to a mature classical music audience.

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Madam Butterfly

My mother dragged me to the Palais Garnier (Paris Opera House) for a performance of Puccini’s “Madam Butterfly” when I was in my early teens. It was supposed to be a treat, and my initiation to Opera.



I came out completely exhausted, after sitting through over two hours of unintelligible singing in a language I couldn’t comprehend – and subtitles didn’t exist in those days. The storyline was pure soap. The heroine, who was about my age, must have had some sort of eating disorder as she looked well over 100 kilograms, which might explain, I thought, why her American husband ran away for a slimmer bride.

Since then, I’ve developed a more profound appreciation of opera and experienced half a dozen or so productions of Madam Butterfly.

I was in London in June, when the ENO (English National Opera) revived Anthony Minghella’s Olivier Award-winning Madam Butterfly as a tribute to the late film director, who first staged the show together with his Hong Kong-born choreographer wife Carolyn Choa in 2005.
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My short stay was, of course, all about dining, drinks, gatherings and outings.

There was too much to see and alas, too little time. I did, however, manage to visit the Modern Art Museum for a major Jean-Michel Basquiat retrospective and the Jeu de Paume for a stunning collection of André Kertész photos.

I was also treated to meals at a few Michelin-starred restaurants. Much like my feelings expressed above about the Shabby Butterfly, these experiences were disappointing. They were not only a waste of time and money, but also of calories. After all, you have to book weeks in advance to endure pompous and snobbish service, pore over a complicated menu which takes a quarter of a page to describe a roast chicken, not to mention the prices…

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I visited Madrid many times in my ‘previous life’. Unfortunately, it was always for business, and never for longer than 24 hours. But that was of little consequence, since I was not particularly fond of the city, knowing little of it. I preferred Barcelona, which I found more buoyant, sensuous and eclectic. This time, I had the opportunity to stay longer and explore. I visited a number of museums and came to appreciate the Madrilenos for their elegance, culture and refinement.

We stayed at the Santo Mauro, a charming boutique hotel located in the city centre. It had a beautiful garden in which we enjoyed drinks under the warm autumn sun, away from the busy traffic.

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