Dear Friends
With the entire Festival team, I am delighted to introduce to you some highlights of the 39th HKAF in 2011.
The Festival opens with the long awaited Hong Kong debut of Cecilia Bartoli who performs in two concerts: one featuring arias with which she is most famously associated, the other draws upon her keen scholarship in repertoire that she champions. Both promise to be memorable. Then in typically eclectic fashion, we present Marianne Faithfull, sixties icon with the savagely honest voice, who performs from a back catalogue stretching over 45 years to show us why she is garnering even greater acclaim as a mature performer. We honour retired Cantonese Opera Diva Fong Yim-Fun with performances of her signature roles. And in the Festival Finale, the inimitable Ute Lemper performs the work of the father of nuevo tango, Astor Piazzola, with the original quintet plus Piazzolla’s grandson Daniel “Pipi” on drums. Yes, great Divas feature prominently. Don’t miss any of them!
Work that was innovative in its day and is now enshrined as tradition is important in Festival programming for giving us signposts both to past and future artistic achievement, and it underpins three important ensembles from Leipzig to be presented, following the successful visit of the Mariinsky Ballet, Opera and Orchestra in the 38th Festival. This time, we have invited the Opera, Orchestra and Choir – the venerable Leipzig Gewandaus with Maestro Riccardo Chailly, the monumental opera by Wagner Tristan und Isolde directed by Willy Decker, and the famous St Thomas Boys Choir (Thomanerchor) in concerts of sacred music composed by J S Bach during his tenure as its cantor.
Complementing this, Bach authority Masaaki Suzuki gives us Cantatas and the St Matthew Passion with the Bach Collegium Japan, and he also performs from the extensive harpsichord repertoire. And from the UK, the Hallé Orchestra, founded in 1858 in Manchester, come to the Festival with eminent British conductor Sir Mark Elder.
Ground breaking work created more recently include a new production by The Contemporary Legend Theatre, famed for being the first to fuse western and eastern styles and thus re-energising Chinese opera: 108 Heroes, based on the Chinese literary classic, The Water Margin. Revolutionary musical, The Threepenny Opera by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, is presented by the Berliner Ensemble with director Robert Wilson. And the New York City Ballet, makes its long anticipated Hong Kong debut with programmes of Ballanchine and Robbins; and in memory of dance-theatre maker Pina Bausch, the Wuppertal Tanztheater returns with her seminal piece Carnations.
Last but by no means least, local drama productions have become an established dimension of the Festival in recent years, and for the 39th HKAF we are proud to present the directorial debut of actor Poon Chan-leung in an autobiographical new play, which explores mortality and aging in Hong Kong.
As you see, this promises to be a fabulous Festival, encompassing a range and variety, with traditional and eclectic offerings showcasing important stars and significant repertoire, that are hallmarks of this annual event. In addition, the 39th HKAF invites you to experience the elemental, the forces of nature that exceed quotidian experience – firstly in the transcendent talent presented, and secondly as a theme in exploring what logic cannot comprehend nor will-power and determination subjugate: from the whimsical mystery that is Peter Pan to the tragic predestination of the impossible, perfect love between Tristan and Isolde.
We hope you will join us for many performances, to experience the extraordinary artistry in fabulous works presented in the 39th HKAF.
Tisa Ho
Executive Director
