Deborah Voigt & Hong Kong Philharmonic

I should have written this last weekend...

Last Saturday (5th September) I went to the Hong Kong Cultural Centre for the Deborah Voigt concert with the Hong Kong Philharmonic.

This was my second time going to a concert by the American soprano. First time was this June at the Barbican in London, with the London Symphony Orchestra.

When I first heard her in June, I was completely blown away by the power and quality of her dramatic vocals.

Last week's programme was quite similar to that of the London concert. As a Wagner and Strauss specialist, in both concerts she performed the final scene of Strauss's operatic adaptation of Oscar Wilde's controversial play Salome, and the aria "Dich, teure Halle" from Wagner's Tannhäuser. In addition she sang "Liebestod" from Tristan und Isolde, also by Wagner.

Although Voigt sang beautifully last weekend, perhaps it was the crappy acoustics of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, or maybe it was the location of my seat (left side of the first row, right by the stage entrance), I didn't feel the same power of her soaring voice that I encountered in the Barbican (I was seated much farther away from the stage, on the balcony).

I think Hong Kong really needs a world-class concert hall (and theatre too). Considering the Hong Kong Philharmonic is a pretty good orchestra, they really need a good concert hall to add to their performance.

Another thing missing from HK's music scene is a professional opera company, and a theatre that goes with it. If I compare HK with Manchester - Manchester is a much smaller city (in terms of population) and yet there are three theatres (the Lowry, Opera House and the Palace), three professional orchestras (the Halle, BBC Phil and Manchester Camerata), and a 2000-seat concert hall (the Bridgewater Hall) with wonderful acoustics.

Hopefully when the debate and fiasco on the West Kowloon Cultural District project is over, they can finally start building something on the empty site...