I’ve been to HK probably a dozen times. But, this is the first attempt at attending a concert. Attended the HK Cultural Center to hear the HK Philharmonic Orchestra. They were pretty good, not best in world category, but, good.
Plus! There is a substantial “senior discount” on tickets. So, Stalls Ticket for $43, about half price.
A No Photo! place, so I only got one before being yelled at and had to sneak the rest. However! A free program!
One bit of oddness, they mustn’t have a rehearsal hall. For the band was on stage tuning up while folks took their seats. I’ve never seen that afore.
Three pieces. A tone poem like thing by Ozno. Imagine taken 50 of the most common orchestral notes, writing them down, running the paper through a shredder and then randomly gluing them back together. I won’t be looking for the CD.
Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante was next. Typical Haydn.
The main reason I wanted to attend was the last piece, Dvorak’s Symphony #7. Having never heard it live it was on the list.
During the interval one of the violinists came into the audience to talk with a friend. Also, one of the double bass players came and sat with a friend in the audience when he wasn’t needed on stage. An informality I’ve not seen before. You’d think it was the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra.
Quite a few families in attendance. Orchestras often have a “children’s concert” to intro kids to the classical music scene, but this is different. This is, Tiger Mom stuff.
