KVT – Heavenly Fireworks at Nha Hat Lon

Sunday. What a night at Nha Hat Lon!!!

The Melchior Ensemble (violin, cello, clarinet, piano) was so heavenly that it won the unanimous approval of whatever Entities and God/esses look down from above and they smote the Opera House dome with a huge thunderclap of applause and a lightning bolt of wow, wow, wow. Sparks to express approbation streamed from the great crystal chandelier and as a tribute to divine playing the whole stage and auditorium were plunged into blackness while cellist David Cohen kept playing the ‘Paganini Variation on One String on a theme from Moses by Rossini’ on his A string and Charles Owen deftly played the grand piano… and then… just as the playing drew to a subtle pause the lights soared back and as the audience joined their rapturous applause of appreciation and relief to the ongoing thunder of the Entities and the two musicians calmly moved on… The bravos at the end were enormous and the audience emerged for interval to see the skies weeping with enjoyment and emotion.

A superb night (all free thanks to the European Union) with a superb mix of the classic classics with modern variations and contemporary compositions. In many ways a challenging night for many in the audience but so delightfully played and presented that it’s no wonder that the Entities joined in with a tympanic boom as my favorite of the night (a transcription on Handel by Halvoorsen) paused for breath.

Many in the audience were enraptured with the cheeky, boyish features and engaging manner of Ensemble leader, David Cohen while others couldn’t helped but be entranced by the svelte beauty and talent of young Polish violinist Alicja Smietana. Swiss clarinetist Reto Bieri was totally gorgeous (according to my female neighbors), and so was his playing, while Charles had already won heavenly plaudits.

A night to remember for its pyrotechnics, both musically and meteorologically.

I’m a Melchior fan and can hardly wait to attend another recital or get a CD whenever one is released… and I’m sure that the Entities will be following them to TP. HCM and further.

A word of advice to classical concert organizers… get the French involved. They seem to know how to curb the use of mobile phones and flash cameras.