Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra's Christmas Concert

Day 6: 22 Dec 2005

The Opera House is a proud looking colonial building that is hard to miss. I am fortunate that the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra is playing the Christmas Concert during my last evening in Hanoi. I bought a stall seat ticket which cost 15,000 D. Quite cheap for a symphony concert.

The concert was attended by mainly expatiates and tourist audiences. I also bumped into Tim and Catherine who one on the same boat with me in Halong Bay. We swapped stories of our adventures since we parted in Halong Bay, during intermission over wine.


The programme line up for the evening includes:
1. Giya Kanchelli's "Mourned by the Wind" liturgy for viola and large orchestra
2. J. S. Bach's Concerto for Violin and Oboe
3. Igor Stravinsky's Petroushka
These are hardly pieces one expected for a Christmas concert.

The conductor is a Japanese guest conductor Tomoyuki Hirota. Though the orchestra is made up of Vietnamese musicians. Or at least I didn't see anyone that looked foreign to me. I am not too sure if it is due to national pride or practical funding reasons. The violinist for Bach's Concerto is a graduate from Vietnam's conservatory. She seems relatively young as the principle violinist but she played superbly.

To my untrained ears, I think that the orchestra has played averagely. I felt that the play is more technical than emotional. The Bach's Concerto is well-played but rather stiff. However, I admired them for attempting the rarely played Giya Kanchelli's pieces. Judging from the restless crowd, it does seems that the piece is an acquired taste. Overall, it is an enjoyable evening. Hope that Vietnam continues to support its orchestra as it grows economically.