I joined KKH and her friends for a concert at Esplanade. We went to watch the City Chinese Orchestra perform songs from the famous TV drama Dream of the Red Chamber. I went not because I was liked the drama, but to support a friend is playing in the orchestra. It was fully packed and we sat at the last row of the concert hall, very far away from the stage. Yet somehow, KKH and I managed to identify the friend when he walked onto the stage. Ask KKH said, “quite distinctive”.
Besides the orchestra, there were a lead singer, a choir and someone to read out the poems. There were also 2 hosts, 1 male and 1 female. The male host would talk in English while the female host would speak in Mandarin. I thought the female host was good while the male host was quite lousy and wasn’t clear in his speech. The lead singer had a good voice but sometimes the orchestra would drown out her singing. I wondered if sitting in the last would also affect the volume of the music. I dislike the poetry recital as the guy was overly dramatic and I felt his voice wasn’t suitable. The female host, the main singer and the person reading out the poems are from China.
I didn’t watch the drama nor did I read the book so listening to the performance made less of an impact on me than other people. My neighbour, a middle-aged man, was so touched that he shed tears. I saw him wiping his eyes at towards the end of the concert. Then the composer made an appearance at the end of the concert and spoke about the drama. My neighbour kept nodding his head and mumbled, “correct” a few times.
