Chapter 20: The Arts
1959 has been an active year and local groups, particularly during the Hong Kong Festival of the Arts in October and November, have provided some notable performances of different kinds. The outstanding event of the year was unquestionably the visit of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under its conductor Herbert von Karajan. The Orchestra was, unfortunately, able to give only one performance during its brief visit; but the enthusiasm with which it was greeted shows that Hong Kong audiences do not lack musical appreciation and will wish to have many more such visits. On the completion in the next two years of the City Hall, with its specially designed concert hall, it is hoped to persuade more first- ranking orchestras to include Hong Kong in their tours.
Both European and Chinese companies staged a number of successful dramatic productions. The Stage Club followed "The Devil's Disciple' and 'Tobias and the Angel' with Jean-Paul Sartre's 'Crime Passionel'. Shortly afterwards, Peter Ustinov's 'Romanoff and Juliet' drew the largest audiences of the year. As a contribution to the Festival, the Stage Club put on 'Ring_Round the Moon', Christopher Fry's adaptation of Anouilh's 'L'Invitation au Chateau', one performance being staged in Kowloon in the new Keswick Hall of the Technical College. The Garrison Players pro- duced ‘Plaintiff in a Pretty Hat by Hugh and Margaret Williams, Thornton Wilder's "The Skin Of Our Teeth' and Jean Giraudoux' 'Amphitryon 38'. The latter company also produced three radio plays over Radio Hong Kong and supplied many actors for a film produced by the Hong Kong Tourist Association. The Chinese companies, The Chinese Drama Group of the Sino-British Club, The Hong Kong Players, and The Society of Dramatic Arts produced 'The Life, Love and Death of Li Po', 'Emperor Ch'in The First', and, "The Warriors of the Yang Family'.
The Hong Kong Schools' Music Association, the Oratorio Society, the Philharmonic Society, the Hong Kong Singers, the Crescendo Choral Society and the Music Society, in addition to
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