Ireland-Vietnam art performances in Hanoi, HCM City

The Embassy of Ireland in Vietnam in co-ordination with Vietnam Youth Theatre will hold traditional song and dance performances in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on January 14 and 17, respectively.

Photo: VOV

Among Ireland’s artists are Mick Moloney, Michelle Mulcahy, and Dylan Foley who use many musical instruments such as violon, flute, Uilleann bag pipes, and mandolin.

Audiences will also have the chance to see world leading artist Niall O’Leary in the step-dance.

Participating in these performances are more than 50 members of the Rhapsody Philharmonic orchestra of the Vietnam National Academy of Music, which was founded in September 2010 and has gained many prizes during domestic and international music competitions.

The event aims to strengthen the friendship relations and mutual understanding between Vietnam and Ireland and introduce Ireland’s traditional music to Vietnamese audiences.

Talk launches new book on Vietnamese contemporary writers

Vietnamese writer Dang Than will present a new book on Vietnamese contemporary literature, Di-Nghi-Luan Dong-Chan-Dung (Other Reasoning – Others Portraits), during a talk tomorrow in Ha Noi.

The event will draw the participation of the country's leading literature critics including La Khac Hoa (La Nguyen), Tran Ngoc Vuong and Nguyen Dang Diep.

Born in 1964, Than is a bilingual poet, fiction writer and essayist as well as a lecturer and interpreter. In the literary circles he runs in, Than is praised for his idiosyncratic prose and rebellious style.

In 2011, many Vietnamese critics and writers gathered at l'Espace, the French Cultural Centre, for a heated discussion of his novel Nhung Manh Hon Tran (Fragments of Naked Souls).

Tomorrow's discussion starts at 6pm at l'Espace (21 Trang Tien Street). Entrance is free.

Arabesque comes to Hanoi

Suong Som (The Mist) - a contemporary dance performed by Arabesque and directed by Tan Loc will come to Hanoi’s Cong Nhan Theater on January 22, with the participation of Ngo Thuy To Nhu and dancers of Arabesque.

Artists in simple and traditional costumes express daily activities of farmers in rice fields via contemporary dance moves in the rhythm of Southern-style shanty, cai luong (Southern opera), percussion and zither. The show will consist of seven parts: on the field, fragrance from pagoda, seasons, night, bumper harvest, silk and rice and celebrating the beauty of Vietnam’s countryside.

The dance depicts the Vietnamese farmer who is very hardworking, simple and honest.

To book tickets, call 094 777 7818. Tickets are priced from VND200,000 to VND1 million.

HCM City orchestra begins new season

The HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera will host its first performance of the year, a New Year Gala Concert, conducted by Tran Nhat Minh at the Opera House tomorrow.

The first part of the concert, presented by tenors Pham Trang and Duy Linh and sopranos Ngoc Tuyen and Thanh Nga, will feature famous arias from classical operas including love songs by G Donizetti, G Puccini, and F Lenar and a medley of popular Italian songs and arias by J Strauss and L Arditi.

There will also be a work featuring the pinnacle of vocal technique – G Rossini's La Danza.

The second part will feature Roma, a symphony by French composer Georges Bizet, whose final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in opera.

Minh graduated in 2007 with an MA degree from Moscow's Tchaikovsky Conservatory, majoring in chorus conducting.

He won the second prize at an international competition for young conductors in Vladivostok, Russia (2003), the incentive prize in the annual All-Russia Competition for Professional Conductors (2006), and best conductor prize at the Viet Nam National Competition of Voice-Dance and Music in 2009.

The organisers said the New Year Gala Concert will be the start of a new season.

Tickets costing VND60,000 to 300,000 are available at the venue at 7 Lam Son Square, District 1.

Thailand’s tsunami on silver screen

The Impossible (Vietnamese title Tham hoa song than) directed by J.A Bayona hit cinemas nationwide on Monday, Jan 7.

It is based on a true story of the miracle survival of a family on the Indian Ocean after the horrendous tsunami ravaged Thailand in 2004.

Maria (Naomi Watts) and Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three sons spend their winter vacation in Thailand and all are eager to enjoy a fabulous time in the tropical country. However, on the morning of Dec. 26, when Maria’s family relaxes by the pool after a Christmas party, there’s a terrible explosion underground and a monstrously huge wave of black water reigns down on the hotel and rapidly sweeps their way.

The movie is a fearful memory for thousands of other people who witnessed one of the most terrifying natural disasters in the history of the planet and for those who lost loved ones. The movie features compassion, courage and benevolence of Maria and her family as they fight bitterly to survive against all odds.

VNN/VOV/VNS/SGT