“This is a story about marriage and friendship, love and forgiveness.” – Carolyn Choa, Director of Die Fledermaus (The Bat)
After almost 30 years of performing and writing dance music with enormous success, Johann Strauss II, “the Waltz King”, turned his attention to the theatre. Inspired by Offenbach and encouraged by his first wife, Jetty Treffz, he began to write operettas in 1871. In 1874, he wrote ‒ “in 42 nights” – Die Fledermaus, his third operetta,together with the librettists Karl Haffner and Richard Genée. The piece quickly became a huge success and is now widely regarded as one of the finest of this musical genre.
As with Strauss’ Waltzes and Polkas – what makes the music of Die Fledermaus so intriguing is first and foremost the inexhaustible richness of melody, but also the originality of invention and the sparkling orchestration. This is timeless music, which has its deeper roots in the music of Mozart and Schubert and which is in its naturalness and effortlessness comparable to theirs.
Director/Adaptation: Carolyn Choa Conductor: Patrick Furrer Cast: Gabriel von Eisenstein: Jasper Sung Dizhang, Rosalinde: Clara Chang Wing-chun, Adele: Ruan Xinai, Dr Falke: Alexander Chen Chun-yiu, Prince Orlofsky: Bobbie Zhang Qian, Alfred: Jiang Jin
Die Fledermaus (The Bat) When: 7:30pm, 24 March 2015 (Tuesday)
7:30pm, 26 March2015 (Thursday)
7:30pm, 28 March (Saturday) Where: Drama Theatre, HKAPA Tickets: $150, $95
More info:
“This is a story about marriage and friendship, love and forgiveness.” – Carolyn Choa, Director of Die Fledermaus (The Bat)
After almost 30 years of performing and writing dance music with enormous success, Johann Strauss II, “the Waltz King”, turned his attention to the theatre. Inspired by Offenbach and encouraged by his first wife, Jetty Treffz, he began to write operettas in 1871. In 1874, he wrote ‒ “in 42 nights” – Die Fledermaus, his third operetta,together with the librettists Karl Haffner and Richard Genée. The piece quickly became a huge success and is now widely regarded as one of the finest of this musical genre.
As with Strauss’ Waltzes and Polkas – what makes the music of Die Fledermaus so intriguing is first and foremost the inexhaustible richness of melody, but also the originality of invention and the sparkling orchestration. This is timeless music, which has its deeper roots in the music of Mozart and Schubert and which is in its naturalness and effortlessness comparable to theirs.
Director/Adaptation: Carolyn Choa Conductor: Patrick Furrer Cast: Gabriel von Eisenstein: Jasper Sung Dizhang, Rosalinde: Clara Chang Wing-chun, Adele: Ruan Xinai, Dr Falke: Alexander Chen Chun-yiu, Prince Orlofsky: Bobbie Zhang Qian, Alfred: Jiang Jin
Die Fledermaus (The Bat) When: 7:30pm, 24 March 2015 (Tuesday)
7:30pm, 26 March2015 (Thursday)
7:30pm, 28 March (Saturday) Where: Drama Theatre, HKAPA Tickets: $150, $95
More info:
Say Goodbye this week to The AIA Great European Carnival and Hello to the Year of the Goat!
There’s an action packed final week of fun and fireworks at The AIA Great European Carnival which will be open until 2am on New Year’s Eve Wednesday 18th February, with tickets only available at the gate.
Choi Sun will be making daily appearances at the Cherry Blossom Tree from Wednesday to Sunday, so be sure to bring some good luck for the year and get a photo of yourself with the God of Wealth.
There will Lion Dances daily from the 19th to the 22nd February. Times are 5pm on Thursday, 4pm on Friday, and 3pm on Saturday and Sunday.
The Smurfs will be meeting their fans live on the main stage on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
And of course the carnival is one of the best vantage points in Hong Kong from which to watch the fireworks at 8pm on Friday evening.
So come on down, see out the old year, welcome in the new year, and say goodbye to the carnival until next winter!
Come down to the AIA Great European Carnival and see Ryan Higa in person, interviewed by Dom Lau from Asia Pop 40, at 4pm this Friday 13th February, on the main stage!
Community Programs are Winners at The AIA Great European Carnival
The AIA Great European Carnival will continue to thrill and entertain people all walks of life within the Hong Kong community up until February 22.
A range of community outreach programs have been taking place on weekdays which have enabled participation from a range of local and international schools, underprivileged children and charitable organisations in Hong Kong. These groups not only had the opportunity to enjoy the fun of the Carnival, but were offered a range of unique educational experiences and behind the scenes tours.
Several prominent Hong Kong-based charities – including the Mother’s Choice, Project WeCan, ShelterBox, Po Leung Kuk and the Nesbitt Centre – have held special events and open days for their clients, volunteers and supporters. During these days guests were given special one-on-one time with the Carnival’s colourful array of street performers. Others used the Live Stage for public dance and drama performances.
As title sponsor of the AIA Great European Carnival, AIA also facilitated days on which their Hong Kong staff accompanied students from Po Leung Kuk schools on daytime visits to the Carnival.
As part of the Carnival’s community programs, school groups have been invited to visit the Carnival and choose from a range of packaged excursions specially designed for Primary and Secondary school students.
“We established the schools programs as we discovered there was a lot to learn from all the different components of the Carnival and thought that it would enable unique experiences for younger students and provide interesting case studies especially for older students,” said Alex Gibbs, Director of Community Programs. “Our ‘Business Behind the Carnival’ tours and the ‘Physics, Design and Engineering of Rides’ have been very popular and we will develop these programs even more in the future.”
Led by some of the carnival’s colourful array of street performers, Primary students choose between activities involving arts and crafts such as make their own juggling balls, or learning the art of balloon twisting, juggling or African drumming.
For the Secondary students, specific assignments are given including a physics program, where pupils work out the mechanics of some of the Carnival’s thrill-making rides, guided by some of the Carnival’s chief engineers. Another choice revolves around business studies, where students get behind- the- scenes tours of the Carnival and explore the wide range of components, people, skills and coordination required to run an event of this magnitude.
“There is an enormous range of interesting facts and figures that are certain to excite young minds, and it’s not all hard work. Following the completion of their assignments, students are given some free time to go on a ride and play skill games and sample the refreshments which are also available,” added Alex Gibbs. “The AIA Great European Carnival has been described by so many visitors as an awesome experience, and sponsors and organisers have been absolutely thrilled with the enthusiastic support received from Hong Kong residents and visitors alike”.
Belle and Sebastian’s concert at Asia-Expo was so much better than my previous experience at this dreadful venue. For starters, there were real musicians on stage. Lots of them! The six band members were joined by what I assume were locally-hired musicians. I counted 13 people on stage at one time. This was no simple promotional exercise. The band was out to have fun. From the off, they engaged with the enthusiastic audience, an eclectic mix of young and old, local and expat.
The band started with Nobody’s Empire, quickly followed by I’m a Cuckoo and Expectations. The sound was good and the visuals were fun, light-hearted and entertaining. The Boy with the Arab Strap and Legal Man were my personal highlights of the evening. During these songs, members of the audience were invited up on stage to dance along with Stuart Murdoch and co. Being Hong Kong; plenty of selfies were taken by the dancers on stage.
During Piazza, New York Catcher a yellow umbrella appeared much to the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd. The tents maybe mostly gone, but the world remembers and continues it’s support.
For the well-deserved encore, Belle and Sebastian played a truncated version of There’s Too Much Love in response to an audience member’s request and ended the evening with a superb rendition of Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying, which left the crowd wanting more.
I went to this concert with low expectations simply because it was being held at Asia-Expo. I left on a high, ready to dust off and play my old Belle and Sebastian CDs. A great night’s entertainment.
Belle and Sebastian When: 8pm, 10 February, 2015 Where: AsiaWorld Expo How much: $760 from HKTicketing
