Concert Under the Stars

Fantastic finish to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture Finale!

I miss going to concerts... but how about an outdoor concert? I jumped at the chance, and so did 10,199 other people with the Hong Kong Philharmonic having its "Symphony Under the Stars" sponsored by Swire. It used to be an annual event until 2018 because of the protests and Covid-19 and now it's back.

A few weeks ago we all had to go online to get the free tickets... as soon as 10am hit, I had over 1,500 people in front of me... by the time I got the tickets, they were near the back. No matter -- I have tickets! Each person was allowed to get a maximum of four tickets so I asked a friend to bring her husband and daughter along. 

Registration was tedious, including each person's email and mobile number and we had to use the Leave Home Safe app. And... no eating or drinking!

Thank goodness for big screens!

Previous outdoor concerts were a picnic affair, where groups would stake out their territory early with picnic blankets, bring food and drinks while enjoying the concert.

But alas we were told not to bring food or drinks into the venue. 

It was held at the Central Harbourfront Events Space, and instead there was seating, each marked with a seat number.

At the entrance, staff made sure we had our tickets, then we proceeded to security where they made sure we had scanned the Leave Home Safe app, then had a quick check of what was in our bags before allowing us in. 

I walked further and further away from the main stage... to section J. And each grouping of seats was in fours. There were several rows behind us, but we were pretty much at the back! The musicians on stage were practically dots. My friend's husband did bring binoculars, but really it was about listening to the music.

The concert was hosted by Harry Gor Gor or Harry Wong the musician and former radio host. He was lots of fun for the kids in the audience, especially when he got out his instrument that he played with his nose... even playing Brahms' Hungarian Dance with it!

When Wong tried to joke with some of the musicians, they came off sounding very serious... Except for a trio of trumpeters dressed in relaxing holiday gear. They told Wong they had just had a staycation in Yuen Long and handed him a wife cake!

People waving their phones to Blue Danube

The program's theme was dance music, so all the pieces were very familiar and easy to listen to, like Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty, Saint-Saens' Danse macabre, Johan Strauss II's Blue Danube Waltz, and Anderson's Bugler's Holiday.

Wong kept teasing the audience about the fireworks, that it would happen... two pieces later. During the Blue Danube he encouraged people to turn on their phone lights as the drone above us swooped past. One of the composer's name is Khachaturian, and Wong joked if you said it in Chinese it sounded like gaat-jat choong leung, as in cockroach having a bath... 

After the two-hour mark, the concert was over, but not before the orchestra performed Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture Finale with fireworks! Amazing sight after having not seen any fireworks for over two years because of the anti-government protests and then the pandemic.

In front of us was a family with two young boys and they obviously loved the music. One kept swaying his arms like a conductor, the parents patient with them, not telling them to sit still, except for a security guard telling the younger one not to play with the chain bordering our section. But otherwise towards the end they were dancing and so excited to be there.

An exciting finish to the concert! 

Concerts like these help foster children's love of music and that's so important.

What's also interesting is that while Wong thanked Swire and people clapped, no one did when he also thanked the Hong Kong government for sponsoring the event as well... or at least I couldn't hear any applause...

Watch the concert here. Wong's nose instrument playing is at 1:48:07

Wong has a fun skeleton dance at 48:19