Why are classical music stars skipping Hong Kong for other Chinese cities?
From Andrea Bocelli and Placido Domingo to Lang Lang, classical music stars have been eschewing Hong Kong in favour of nearby cities
In March, around 4,000 music lovers from Hong Kong attended a one-night-only concert by Andrea Bocelli, a legendary tenor once dubbed the “Voice of God” by singer Celine Dion.
That the concert on March 29 was in Macau was an inconvenience they were willing to overlook.
According to the organiser and resort Galaxy Macau, Hong Kong visitors made up around 40 per cent of the audience at the sell-out show at the Galaxy Arena. Many of them, like music critic Edison Hung Sze-hang, were happy to make the two-hour round trip for it.
“Local classical music lovers are travelling more for shows since so many big names are going to nearby cities like Macau, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and not coming to Hong Kong,” Hung says.