Radio_Hong_Kong_1963-1964 — Page 14

of the God of Heaven' was another traditional tale and this told of the love of a poor scholar for his celestial soulmate. The play lasted for two hours and included over thirty Cantonese folk songs. It was broadcast on the fourth day of the first moon of the Chinese calendar.

MUSICAL PROGRAMMES

25. As each year goes by fewer public performances of traditional Cantonese operas seem to be staged in Hong Kong. The fall off is presum- ably allied to the trend of the opera stars to take on more film work and with the considerable overheads which entrepreneurs have to face in connection with the productions. However, Radio Hong Kong does all that is possible to help to maintain the popularity of traditional Cantonese opera. In the past year this was achieved by relaying opera performances from the City Hall and from those theatres in the Colony which mounted productions. These operas are usually charity affairs to raise funds for various organizations and tend to last only for a night or two. However, the shortage of live Chinese opera is largely off-set by the broadcast performance of recorded works and these are still very popular, partic- ularly with the older generations.

26. Other programmes of Chinese vocal music of interest during the year included 'Singing Platform', 'Voice and String Harmonies', recitals by blind artists and 'Eight Celebrated Songs'.

27. A new session of 'Chinese Beginners Please' was introduced in May. This is a singing contest of Cantonese songs. The winner of each of the preliminary rounds was invited to take part in the final before a large audience in the City Hall Concert Hall. Prizes were awarded to all finalists and the packed houses indicated a very real interest in these amateur competitions. At the same recording session the audience was also entertained by local professional vocalists and bands in the series 'Cabaret of the Air'.

28. Another outside broadcast series was 'Dinner Dance Music'. For this programme Radio Hong Kong's technicians and comperes visited several of the better known night spots of the Colony and dance music was relayed from the Champagne Court Restaurant, the President Hotel and the Hilton Hotel amongst others. The broadcasts took place 'live' on Sunday evenings.

29. Light music record programmes continued to appeal to the Chinese audiences, particularly the younger set. Request programmes are so well patronized that there is a continuous back-log of records to be played.

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