Loose Ends: Answering mail and final impressions

It's been a week since we've returned from China, and everything we did in one whirlwind week there is just beginning to sink in. Thanks for all of your letters and e-mails. I want to answer a few of them here.

First, to answer Dennis and Pat Coyne of Erlanger in today's Letters to the Editor:

Pops ticket prices in China are set by the presenter, which in this case was Zhang Wu, president of a big advertising firm that designed the 2008 Olympics logo. When the orchestra tours, generally the presenter sets the locations and times of the concerts, as well as ticket prices and concert promotions.

It's true that some tickets cost upwards of a month's salary, but I think that some people were there as "guests" of their companies and others obtained free tickets other ways. (This I learned by talking to a few people who spoke English at the concerts.) Nevertheless, a conductor friend in Shanghai, Pu Qi Jiang, tried three weeks in advance to buy tickets for the Shanghai concert, and said that most of the lower-priced seats (costing about a week's salary for the average person) were already sold out.

Angel Joseph of Cincinnati wants to know if the Pops will repeat or record the show it gave in China.

"I read every word," he writes. "Hope you've recovered from all the travel. Thanks for sacrificing your body for your readers."

You're welcome. The Pops program was designed specially for China, sort of a compilation of their greatest hits. They won't repeat it here, but they play a full season in Music Hall. Their next concert is their popular holiday show, Dec. 9-11. Click here for info.

As for recordings, they just came out with a new 4-CD box set, the "Ultimate Movie Music Collection," that includes much of the music they played in China (but not Disney). I'ts on Telarc, for about $33. View the tracks and order it here.

Rocky and Jialing (a native of China) Burkhardt write that they love the Cincinnati Pops and wonder who was footing the bill for the tour. As in all international tours, the presenters (in this case a Chinese presenter and a Singapore presenter) pay a fee to the orchestra for performing. What is not covered through fees is paid by sponsors or donors. In this case, Edyth and Carl Lindner are picking up the tab!

Jean Schuster wants to know whether the concert taped in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing by CCTV, China's largest TV station, will be available for viewing in Cincinnati. I am trying to find the answer to this one. Stay tuned!

Other impressions:

1. Soft Americans: In China we had the hardest beds we've ever slept on. Many of the musicians put their down bedspreads underneath them, and one curled up in a chair.

2. Red envelopes: In order to get stories in the newspaper, arts groups give the press "red envelopes" filled with money -- ie, bribes. In fact, the red envelope policy seems to be how much of China operates...

3. Press tickets: The press get free tickets to concerts, but they are only allowed to stay 15 minutes! Guess they make up most of their reviews...

I'm still trying, with no success, to upload photos to my blog. In the meantime, did you see our Enquirer photo galleries?

Pops touring China

Concert photos

Pops in Singapore