|
Hanoi Musicians to Perform on Japanese TV
Musicians from the Hanoi Conservatoire will attend the
Asian Bridge Programme at the invitation of the
Japanese radio and television company TBS.
Nine artists from the Hanoi Conservatoire will attend the event in Japan from February 24 to February 28, 2000. |
|
Myung-Wha Chung Plays Cello in Hanoi
In recent times, the people of Hanoi have had the
opportunity to get to know and enjoy the talents of
some famous foreign singers, musical groups and
orchestras through their performances in Vietnam. And
on February 18, 2000, lovers of classical music once
again had a chance to enjoy a magnificent concert,
this time with the famous Korean cellist Myung-Wha
Chung.
This was the first time the famous soloist had visited and performed in Vietnam. Also performing with Myung-Wha Chung were Professor Tran Thu Ha (piano), the director of the HCOM; Professor Ngo Van Thanh (violin), deputy director, Professor Nguyen Phuc Linh (bassoon), joint deputy director, under baton of People's Artist Tran Quy and the HCOM's orchestra. With a performing style full of confidence, inspiration and passion, Myung-Wha Chung truly drew the attention of every member of the audience in the Hanoi Opera House. The concerto for cello and symphony orchestra in B-minor, op 104 by A.Dvorak deeply touched the audience through Myung -Wha Chung's deep, warm cello sound and the grandiose background music performed by Hanoi Conservatoire orchestra. The masterful combination between the famous cello maestro and Hanoi Conservatoire orchestra was a pleasant surprise to Myung-Wha Chung. She said: "I felt wonderful after the concert. Vietnam's artists were superb in their performance and clearly showed their true musical abilities". When asked about her plans for the future, Mung revealed that she will "try to do something to promote the cultural relationship between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea , especially in the musical field". Beethoven 9th Symphony to be Performed c The Hanoi Musical Conservatory has held two concerts to perform Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the Hanoi Opera House on March 24 and 25. The symphony is one of the greatest musical achievements of mankind. This is the biggest concert ever seen in Vietnam with the participation of 100 musicians of the Symphony Orchestra and a 150-member chorus of the Conservatoire under the baton of French conductor R. Xavier. |
|
Hoang Phuong - A Young Musical Talent
Born in 1982, Phuong was introduced to the piano at the
age of five by his mother, a lecturer at the Hanoi
Conservatoire. At the age of seven, Phuong passed the
Hanoi Conservatoire entrance exam and has been
fortunate to have Miss Tran Thu Ha, the present
director of the Hanoi Conservatoire, as his piano
teacher to this day.
p>As time went by, musical notes and the piano became
indispensable to Phuong, just like two close friends
who were always together, through good times and bad.
p> 
In 1999, the organiser of the Takashaki musical contest,
the two-yearly contest for students of the
international school of music, officially invited a
Vietnamese representative to compete at the contest
for the first time. Nguyen Hoang Phuong was nominated
by the Hanoi Conservatoire as Vietnam's only
participant. The contest consisted of four rounds:
round one, or the preliminary round, requires each
participant to perform a musical piece and send the
tape to Japan. If successful, in round two, he/she
will get to perform the same musical piece in front
of the competition jury. In round three, participants
will compete for one of seven places in round four,
which is the final round.
p>Nguyen Hoang Phuong was a rare case: he was exempted
from competing in round two due to his exceptionally
high score in the preliminary round. This was the
first time Phuong participated in an international
competition, but he had courageously passed round
three with a performance of two musical pieces
selected by the competition jury to book himself a
place in the final round with six other competitors
from Russia, Japan, France and the Republic of Korea.
Cool, calm and collected, Phuong had successfully performed his selected piece, an 11-minute long work by Chopin. Phuong later revealed, "When stepping onto the stage, in front of thousands of people, I was extremely nervous. But when I sit in front of the piano, an instrument that has long became a part of me, all my tensions go away. When performing, I put all my heart and soul into the piece." Perhaps this was the reason Phuong's performance convinced nearly all of the competition judges, who later gave him the highest score. The shy, slender student of the Hanoi Conservatory had brought honours to the youths of Vietnam's art schools with a fully deserving prize. Nguyen Hoang Phuong was recently awarded the Red Star award by the Vietnam Youth Union, and selected by the Young Talents's Fund as one of 10 Vietnamese outstanding youths in 1999. |
Myung-Wha Chung was born in 1944 in Seoul, Korea. She
began to learn the piano at the age of four and
decided to switch to cello a few years later. At 13,
Chung received her first musical prize in a national
musical competition. Since then, she has regularly
performed in public in Europe and North America. She
was also the leading artist in many musical festivals
such as Lecerne, Maggio Musical of Florence and
Spoleto Palma de Majorca. In 1971, once again her name
was shining in the world of music after winning the
first prize in the Geneva International Music
Competition (Switzerland).