Wong Jum-sum loved music of all kinds, and had a particularly deep-seated passion for Western classical music.

In the 1950s, both Wong and classical music were finding their feet in Hong Kong society. The best they could do was to openly embrace the unknown.

To embrace the unknown, one needs support from all directions.

Thanks to Radio Hong Kong, Wong was able to listen to enticing music all day everyday, in that process learning to appreciate simultaneously the distinctive worlds of Shankar and Schubert.

Thanks to Leung Yat-chiu, he knew classical music held no special mystical aura. Whatever sounded good was good music.

Thanks to Wong Jum-sum himself, he learnt to read and absorb the principles and practices of making music, no matter whether they came from Bach or Beethoven.

Thanks to Hong Kong of the 1950s, he encountered a succession of visiting maestros, extending immensely his ideas about music and life.

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies No.15 (1954)

The list of classical musicians who visited Hong Kong in the 1950s looked awesome. Louis Kentner came three times. In 1953, in his first appearance, he played among other works Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no.3. Professor Liu Ching-chih remembered the occasion. The venue was the assembly Hall of Queen’s College. There was no air-conditioning. Kentner’s piano had to vie with the noise from the fans on the ceiling and the traffic outside.

Kentner was renowned for his technique and temperament. He was never daunted by the devilishly difficult passages of Liszt. He was not to be daunted by the inchoate noise of a fledging society either.

Composer: Franz Liszt

Performer: Louis Kentner (Piano)