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Kylie Knott

Scotsman John Duffus arrived in Hong Kong in 1979, eager to start his new role with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary.
When the first-class honours music graduate joined as general manager, the Phil had been a full-time professional orchestra for just five years and was nothing like the musical powerhouse it is today.
“Little did I know that I was the fifth general manager in just five years – an indication, if I needed one, that I was to find a raft of major problems,” says Duffus from the Thai capital, Bangkok, where he has been based since 2001.
Duffus left the orchestra in 1986 to become one of Hong Kong’s most successful impresarios, in which role he brought an impressive, “who’s who” line-up of performers from both classical music and pop music to the region. He also witnessed plenty of backstage drama involving some of the biggest names in the business.












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Some of these stories appear in Duffus’ new memoir, Backstage in Hong Kong: A Life with the Philharmonic, Broadway Musicals and Classical Superstars, released this month by Hong Kong publishing house Blacksmith Books.
Jumping out from his list of achievements is helping to arrange a concert by The Three Tenors (Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras) in Beijing’s Forbidden City in 2001 to help with China’s bid to host the Olympic Games in 2008, which it won.
Most of China watched the gala on television, with about 20,000 attending in person. China’s then president, Jiang Zemin, was not among the concertgoers but he did invite the tenors to lunch at his residence the following day.


“The president expressed his gratitude to the tenors, then said he knew of a saying in the West that you often have to ‘sing for your supper’, so he suggested that they sing duets – Carreras with the then Minister of Culture, Domingo with Zhu Rongji, the prime minister, and Luciano with the president.
“Pavarotti, who used to claim he could not read music, was also forthright about the fact that he sometimes had trouble remembering lyrics,” Duffus says.
“So when Jiang suggested a popular Neapolitan song that Luciano must have sung 1,000 times, [Luciano] was concerned because he knew he would not remember all the words.”

When they started singing in Italian together, says Duffus, President Jiang was word and note perfect but Pavarotti struggled.
“Luciano told me that story at dinner in the Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong the following evening,” he says.
“Luciano also told me that throughout his career he had met kings, queens, princes, prime ministers and a whole galaxy of top officials in various governments around the world. In his view, he considered Jiang the most knowledgeable, intelligent and worldly-wise of any whom he had previously met!”

On a sadder note, Duffus says he also arranged for the final ticketed concert that Pavarotti gave before he died in 2007. “That was before 20,000 fans in Taichung, in Taiwan on December 14, 2005.”
He also recalls the time he approached the late pop icon Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing to play the role of Rum Tum Tugger in a production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats in the late 1980s.
“Leslie turned the offer down. We were not aware he was about to give up singing and retire to Canada, only to return for some major film roles.
“Would his career have changed much had he accepted the offer? I doubt it. Musicals are demanding on those on stage and the fees would have been a fraction of what he would earn from CDs and [Hong Kong] Coliseum concerts.”

Among Duffus’ career highlights was taking the Philharmonic on its first tour of China – to Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou in 1986.
Another came in 1991, when he brought Bulgarian pianist Alexis Weissenberg to perform in Hong Kong and Taipei.
At dinner on the night before his first recital, Weissenberg made a shocking request: he wanted to change the entire programme.
“I was staggered,” recalls Duffus. “The advertised programme for Hong Kong and Taipei had been finalised a few months beforehand and I had already had them printed.
“Now he wanted a new programme which some in the audience might not wish to hear.”
But when someone like Weissenberg made a decision, says Duffus, that was it. “No discussion. The programme had to be changed. To cap it all, I had to pay for dinner!”

These days, writing consumes much of his time. In his first book, Scottish Opera’s Golden Years, released in 2022, he revisited memories of the opera company based in Glasgow, for which he once worked, as it marked its 60th anniversary.
“I followed with Backstage with Pavarotti and other Egos: Disasters on the High Cs and now I’m working on a book about a young Myanmar man’s horrendous life before he finds his way to Europe and university,” Duffus says.


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The time Jiang Zemin outsang Pavarotti in Italian recalled in Hong Kong impresario’s book

Luciano Pavarotti signs autographs following his first concert in Hong Kong, in February 1990. In his memoir, John Duffus  (right) recalls the time Pavarotti sang a duet with Jiang Zemin in Beijing. Photo courtesy of Blacksmith Books 

Austrian President Thomas Klestil smiles while then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin sings with unidentified musicians during a banquet in Beijing in 2001, the same year he outsang Luciano Pavarotti in an Italian duet. Photo: AP

A career highlight for John Duffus was arranging a concert by The Three Tenors (Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras) at Beijing’s Forbidden City in 2001. Photo: courtesy of Blacksmith Books 

John Duffus on the Great Wall of China in 1986, during the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s first tour of China. Photo: courtesy of Blacksmith Books 

A poster for the 1984 Coliseum concert Duffus arranged with Capital Artists featuring three of its most popular artists, Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui and Lui Fong, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. Photo: courtesy of Blacksmith Books 

How Cantopop singer-songwriter George Lam stayed popular for 5 decades – by being himself

George Lam at an interview with the Post in 2004. Photo: SCMP

Singer-songwriter and actor George Lam has been a Hong Kong favourite since the 1970s, releasing numerous hit songs and appearing on TV and in films. Photo: SCMP

George Lam (left) performs at a celebration for the Philippines’ National Day in 1977. Photo: SCMP

George Lam at a recording studio in 1986. Photo: SCMP

George Lam at an interview with the Post in 1987. Photo: SCMP

George Lam performs at the Golden Bauhinia Awards in 1996. Photo: SCMP

George Lam and Season Ma in a still from Boat People (1982). Photo: Bluebird Film

Sally Yeh and George Lam disclose their plan to hold a series of joint concerts in Beijing to show their support for the city’s bid for the 2000 Olympics, in 1993. Photo: SCMP

George Lam sings at the Sha Tin Racecourse, Hong Kong, in 2009. Photo: SCMP

Immersive exhibition on golden age of Cantopop composer and lyricist shows impact they had

Lyricist James Wong Jim (right) and composer Joseph Koo Ka-fai wrote 236 songs during a three-decade partnership that began in Hong Kong in 1972, as well as advertising jingles and TV show theme tunes. Photo: Joseph Koo family collection

The Tai Kwun studio is full of reminders of the era in Hong Kong that witnessed Wong and Koo’s rise as songwriters. Photo: Cyril Ip

A recreation of a “cha chaan teng”, a Hong Kong-style cafe, as part of the exhibition. Photo: Cyril Ip

Wong and Koo’s work spanned technological advances in music production, and to changes in how music is consumed. Photo: Cyril Ip

Wong and Koo, who moved to Hong Kong from Guangzhou, are credited with taking Cantopop to unprecedented heights. Photo: Joseph Koo family collection

The collaborators’ cultural impact extended to mainland China and Chinese communities overseas. Photo: Tai Kwun

Indonesian band with home-made instruments Senyawa return to Hong Kong for ‘noisier’ show

Indonesian duo Senyawa, known for making music using home-made string and percussion instruments, will make their Hong Kong return in August at Noise Fest, at Freespace in the West Kowloon Cultural District. Photo: WKCDA

Senyawa formed in 2010 in Yogyakarta, in Java, Indonesia. Photo: WKCDA

Kung Chi-shing, head of contemporary performance, performing arts at West Kowloon Cultural District Authority. Photo: May Tse

Senyawa will play pieces from their latest album, Vajranala, during their upcoming show at Freespace Noise Fest. Photo: WKCDA

Senyawa began a 10-year-long tour in 2020, as part of which they have travelled to remote Indonesian islands. Photo: WKCDA

Kung of WKDCA says Senyawa’s performances are “both modern and ancient”. Photo: WKCDA

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Incident on Three Tenors tour among anecdotes in Hong Kong impresario and ex-Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra manager John Duffus’ memoir


Jiang Zemin was the most knowledgeable world leader Luciano Pavarotti ever met, the tenor said after being outsung by the Chinese leader in an Italian debt, former Hong Kong impresario recalls in memoir.


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