I love Italy. Italians have a particular sense of elegance – refined, understated and polished, with delicate attention to detail. They are probably the most sophisticated Europeans. Yet their food is unpretentious – simple but so heavenly delicious – not

When Fernando Chui Sai On took over the political reigns of the Macau Special Administrative Region in December 2009, he not only promised a speedy recover for the gaming industry, but also voiced his unbridled and continued support for local

I was in Paris for a few days to meet a very special friend, and managed to get a couple of tickets to Madame Butterfly at the Opera Bastille. I hadn’t intended to write about this event, for the very

I went on my first ECO Music Cruise in 2007, and it was a most memorable experience. Travelling with a respected orchestra and exceptional musicians, enjoying two to three concerts a day over the course of seven days, sometimes even

Over the past few years, Hong Kong’s classical music scene has become increasingly active. The city is slowly shedding its ‘cultural desert’ reputation, attracting a slate of world-class artists and offering a broad variety of programmes. Unfortunately however, opera remains

Niu Niu had his Wigmore Hall debut in 2006, when he was just nine years old. Introduced to the London public by pianist Leslie Howard and sponsored by David Tang of Shanghai Tang fame, Niu Niu received a taste of

written by Melissa, for Juliette. In her annual attempt to inject some culture into her nineteen-year-old daughter’s life, my mother forced me to attend the Festival International d’Opéra Baroque in Beaune. So it was with resignation and not a little

While I was in London I attended a concert I would normally have avoided, since half of the programme consisted of Arnold Schoenberg. But I bought a ticket and went in spite of my jet leg because Vladimir Jurowski was