Star violinist set to shine on tour
Tackling Tchaikovsky: Young violinist Do Phuong Nhi and conductor Tetsuji Honna will perform one of the most difficult pieces for the violin at the Toyota Concert Tour 2013. — VNA/VNS Photo
HA NOI (VNS)— The musical talents of Viet Nam’s most promising young violinist will enchant the nation’s opera houses as the Viet Nam National Symphony and Orchestra (VNSO) begins its national tour on July 30.
The concert entitled Toyota Concert Tour 2013 is co-held by the Toyota Viet Nam Foundation and the VNSO with the hope of creating more chances for young musical talents to practise and shine.
The annual concert will feature Do Phuong Nhi, one of the most talented violinists in Viet Nam.
The orchestra will support Nhi as she tackles one of Tchaikovsky’s most challenging works Violin Concerto in D major.
“This piece is my most favourite. I have dreamed of playing it for a long time,” Nhi said at a press conference held yesterday, describing it as one of the master pieces for a violin soloist.
“It requires both a high level of performance skill and strong emotion.”
Born in 1998 into a musical family, she studied violin from the age of 4, with both parents being violinists.
At the tender age of 11, she made her solo debut with the VNSO at the Ha Noi Opera House, showing that she had a special passion for musical performance even as a young child.
As a soloist, Nhi has since played with a number of domestic and overseas orchestras including the VNSO, the Ha Noi Strings Chamber Orchestra, Forsvarets-Musikk and Trondheim Soloist in Norway.
Early this year, she was invited to perform with young talented European musicians at the Valdres Summer Festival in Norway.
In 2010, Nhi received a scholarship to attend master classes at the Barratt-Due Institute of Music.
Currently, she is studying at the Viet Nam National Academy of Music.
Despite performing at the Toyota Concert Tour for the second time, Nhi is still worried about for the Tchaikovsky’s piece she is going to play at this time.
In the Toyota Concert Tour 2011, Nhi performed successfully the Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Saint-Saens with the VNSO under the baton of conductor Tetsuji Honna.
“Nhi is very promising violinist in Viet Nam. She is trying hard to practise the piece which is one of the most difficult violin pieces. I enjoy working with her very much,” said the concert conductor.
“We invite Nhi for a second time with the hope of positively encouraging young Vietnamese musical talents to practice and get the chance of performing on the big stage, becoming real artists in the future.”
The concert will also play Music for Symphony Orchestra by Japanese composer Yashushi Akutagawa and Xe Chi Luon Kim (Love duets of Bac Ninh), a Vietnamese folk song orchestrated by composer Tran Manh Hung.
“I hope the piece Music for Symphony Orchestra will fascinate listeners with its playful and rich scoring for flutes, strings and brass,” said the conductor.
“We choose to include the folk songs in the concert’s repertoire because we want to introduce more and more Vietnamese music in the Toyota Concert Tour.”
Nguyen Tri Dung, a musician and the VNSO director, said the composition is very special because of having many different variants.
Composer Hung wrote the musical score based on the two most different variants of the song creating a distinctive contrast in the orchestration.
Since 2009, the Toyota Concert Tour has put all tickets proceeds towards nurturing young Vietnamese musical talents.
The concert will kick off at the HCM City Opera House on July 30 and will then be recited at the Ha Noi Opera House on August 23. — VNS