Ending the week with a requiem and a mass may sound like an overload of gravitas. Yet for their Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) concert on March 6, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his Constellation Choir and Orchestra (CCO) gave Mozart\u2019s two sacred works a buoyancy and transparency that was more uplifting than anything else.<\/p>\n
This was the Hong Kong debut of Gardiner\u2019s new ensemble, founded in 2024 after an unfortunate incident that led to his departure from the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, which he had headed for six decades.<\/p>\n
For context: in August 2023, the Britain-born conductor reportedly took the idea of a \u201cpunchy performance\u201d too far, slapping and punching the English bass singer William Thomas for exiting the podium on the wrong side during Les Troyens<\/em>, the opera by Berlioz.<\/p>\n After undergoing cognitive mental therapy, an extended period of reflection and presumably a few anger management sessions, the disgraced octogenarian has managed to stage a comeback with the CCO. In Hong Kong, they kicked off the first of their two HKAF concerts with a compelling account of Mozart\u2019s Requiem<\/em>.<\/p>\n The orchestra impressed with its attention to detail and colourful musicality, dispelling the myth that Britain\u2019s bustling early music scene prizes neatness and polish over real depth.<\/p>\n The introductory \u201cIntroitus\u201d, with its heartbeat-like rhythm, was profound yet never cumbersome, balancing earthiness with ethereality.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/03\/10\/c469ff01-0c17-4929-82b8-c7c57a0cd754_595de0ff.jpg\" "\\"The")
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