In Tatler’s weekly cultural series, where we learn about the secret lives of the tastemakers in Hong Kong’s arts scene, we speak with Opera Hong Kong’s founder, Warren Mok.
Don José in Carmen, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Calaf in Turandot and Radames in Aida: Warren Mok has played them all. The Beijing-born, Hong Kong-based tenor has built a repertoire of 60 operatic roles since his European debut in 1987 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In the vein of Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras, he is one of China’s “Three Tenors”—alongside Dai Yuqiang and Wei Song; in 2012, the trio toured the world to promote Chinese culture. His love for opera motivated him to set up Opera Hong Kong, a company that stages productions and organises youth education and singing programmes. His efforts in cultivating a culture of appreciation for opera saw him awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region this year, one of many awards and titles he has received both locally and internationally.
His next production, Madama Butterfly, the classic tragic love story by Puccini, will run from October 6 to 10. We caught up with Mok to learn about a day in his life.
10am
I go to bed very late, at around 2am. So my regular wake-up time is 10am. Before 10am, you cannot find me. I turn off the phone so no one can disturb me. That is me being an artistic director. But if I have a performance that day, I will get up even later, at around 11am.
10.30am
I have oatmeal, eggs—scrambled or sunny side up—and a piece of toast. That’s it. The first thing I do right after breakfast is turn on the television for the local and international news, not music. I like to see what’s going on in the world.
See also: New Hong Kong Opera Singer Louise Kwong Shines in Bizet’s "Carmen"