Fresh from her triumph under the baton of Vladimir Ashkenazy at the City Hall last month, Rachel Cheung Wai Ching will be taking centre stage at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts this Sunday, 1 November, at 8pm. Joining the young piano prodigy on the bill are the Academy's Brass Ensemble, who delighted a packed house two years ago with their outstanding sound.
And just how appropriate is it that the chorus which would be guaranteed first prize in the World's Youngest Welsh Male Voice Choir category at any Eisteddfod should be appearing on All Saints' Day, such is their legendary capacity for trying the patience of wives, conductors and audiences alike?
Having brought off what their Chairman is describing as their best performance at Beijing's Dulwich College last weekend, the men in scarlet will be champing at the bit to prove that what he meant was "ever" rather than "since I took up the post in the summer".
The highlight of the evening in the swanky school theatre was undoubtedly a stirring rendition of Dana-Dana, a Hungarian dance-song in B flat Magyar, which is marked to be sung "In fiery dancetime", i.e. faster than a New Territories "indigenous" villager asking for a handout. Though sung in English, some in the audience remained unaware of this and congratulated us on adding another string to our already formidable linguistic bow.
Back to the music, and Cheung will be performing works by Chopin, including the Etude in C sharp minor and the Waltz in A flat major – a splendid way to warm up before heading to Amelia in Umbria where she will be appearing as part of the hill-top town's annual music festival. With inimitable flair, the Italian organisers are calling her recital "Genio, impeto e sensibilità", which rolls off the tongue so much more smoothly than "Genius, impulsiveness and sensitivity", but not, one hopes, more smoothly than the leek-eaters' rendition of Puccini's classic aria Nessun Dorma.
And just how appropriate is it that the chorus which would be guaranteed first prize in the World's Youngest Welsh Male Voice Choir category at any Eisteddfod should be appearing on All Saints' Day, such is their legendary capacity for trying the patience of wives, conductors and audiences alike?
Having brought off what their Chairman is describing as their best performance at Beijing's Dulwich College last weekend, the men in scarlet will be champing at the bit to prove that what he meant was "ever" rather than "since I took up the post in the summer".
The highlight of the evening in the swanky school theatre was undoubtedly a stirring rendition of Dana-Dana, a Hungarian dance-song in B flat Magyar, which is marked to be sung "In fiery dancetime", i.e. faster than a New Territories "indigenous" villager asking for a handout. Though sung in English, some in the audience remained unaware of this and congratulated us on adding another string to our already formidable linguistic bow.
Back to the music, and Cheung will be performing works by Chopin, including the Etude in C sharp minor and the Waltz in A flat major – a splendid way to warm up before heading to Amelia in Umbria where she will be appearing as part of the hill-top town's annual music festival. With inimitable flair, the Italian organisers are calling her recital "Genio, impeto e sensibilità", which rolls off the tongue so much more smoothly than "Genius, impulsiveness and sensitivity", but not, one hopes, more smoothly than the leek-eaters' rendition of Puccini's classic aria Nessun Dorma.
2 comments:
I heard Cheung a couple of weeks back playing Rachmaninov 2 & she was superb.
Strangely, I've read no review of the concert, Stig, even though it was a week ago now.
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