HN & HCMC – Toyota Concert Tour 2016

Hanoi: 05 and 06 Aug 2016, 8 pm
Hanoi Opera House
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HCMC: 10 and 11 Aug 2016, 8 pm
HCMC Opera House

From Toyota Motor Vietnam:

Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV) in cooperation with the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra (VNSO) proudly announced the “Toyota Concert 2016”. With 4 concert nights in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, the program is promised to bring music lovers in Vietnam with wonderful moments, immersed in emotional lyrical classical melodies of the 19th century.

In the 19th year to be organized, this year, Toyota Concert will be performed by VNSO, under the baton of the Japanese talented conductor Honna Tetsuji, and especially the first time participation of solo pianist Vu Ngoc Linh – who achieved many big awards at music contests in USA such as: 1st prize in the Piano and Orchestra competition in New Jersey (2004); 2nd prize by the Music Teachers Association of New Jersey and USA (2005)…

Accordingly, Toyota Concert 2016 program will let audiences back to the old days of 19th century to immerse in lyrical classical melodies, to the Russian legend land – the motherland of many outstanding composers of the world classical music in general and of the Russian music history in particular. They are: Glinka – also known as father of Russian classical music, Rachmaninov – a genius, Tchaikovsky and his manifestation works full of charming, showy, and repressed feelings.

Performances at Toyota Concert 2016 will be selective classical compositions which is greatly beloved by Russian music lovers in particular and worldwide, including: Overture from Opera “Ruslan and Ludmila” (M. Glinka), Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 8 (S. Rachmaninov) and Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 (P.I.Tchaikovsky) will bring unforgettable moments for music lovers nationwide.

Being a social contribution activity that has been implemented annually over the last 18 years, the Toyota Concert program has positively supported the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra to upgrade the performance quality and level through concert tours to big domestic and overseas cities. Besides, this program also creates chance for local young talents to perform with VNSO, such as violinists Do Phuong Nhi, Bui Cong Duy, singers Tung Duong, Trinh Thanh Binh… Until now, with 58 impressive and emotional concert nights and 34,500 audiences, the Toyota Concert has become one of the most warmly welcomed and highly appreciated music events, contributing to popularize this academic music to more and more music lovers in Vietnam.

After 20 years of operation in Vietnam, with the commitment to become a good citizen in the local community, TMV has carried out many meaningful and long-term activities, contributing to enriching the people and sustainable development in of Vietnam with over 22 million USD. In business, TMV has become the leading automaker in Vietnam with accumulated sales of over 327,000 vehicles sold out; over 6.6 million turns of serviced units, parts export to 13 countries and regions in the world with accumulated export turnover of over 350 million USD; increased production capacity with investment of up to 160 million USD (without original investment), contributed over 5 billion USD to State Budget, provides stable jobs for nearly 33,000 people, 44 dealers, branched and TASS and 20 suppliers. With the positive contributions to development and building social economy, together with the remarkable achievements, TMV has been awarded the Second Class Labour Medal by the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on the occasion of the 20 year birthday of the company.

Program

M. Glinka: Overture from Opera “Ruslan and Ludmila”
S. Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
P.I. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64

Listen to the overture from the opera “Ruslan and Ludmila” by M. Glinka with the performance of the Orchestra Of Mariinsky Theatre here:

[youtube width=”700″ height=”393″]https://youtu.be/Nyx99YcHdIQ[/youtube]

Program notes

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka – Overture from Opera “Ruslan and Ludmila”

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804–1857)
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country, and is often regarded as the fountainhead of Russian classical music. Glinka’s compositions were an important influence on future Russian composers, notably the members of The Five, who took Glinka’s lead and produced a distinctive Russian style of music.

Glinka was the beginning of a new direction in the development of music in Russia. Musical culture arrived in Russia from Europe, and for the first time specifically Russian music began to appear, based on the European music culture, in the operas of the composer Mikhail Glinka.
The first has noted this new musical direction was Alexander Serov. Then he was supported by his friend Vladimir Stasov, who became the theorist of this musical direction. This direction is developed by later composers of The Five composers.

Overture from Opera “Ruslan and Ludmila”
Ruslan and Ludmila is an opera in five acts composed by Mikhail Glinka between 1837 and 1842. The opera is based on the 1820 poem of the same name by Aleksandr Pushkin. The multi-authored Russian libretto was written by Valerian Shirkov, Nestor Kukolnik, and N. A. Markevich, and others. Pushkin’s untimely death in the famous duel prevented him from writing the libretto himself as planned.The premiere took place in St. Petersburg on 27 November 1842 at the Bolshoy Theater. Four years later, the opera was given its Moscow premiere at the Bolshoy Theatre in 1846.

Sergei Rachmaninov – Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18

Sergei Rachmaninov (1873 – 1943)
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninov was a highly successful Russian composer.Rachmaninov is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music. Early influences of Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and other Russian composers gave way to a thoroughly personal idiom that included a pronounced lyricism, expressive breadth, structural ingenuity, and a tonal palette of rich. The piano is featured prominently in Rachmaninov’s compositional output. He made a point of using his own skills as a performer to explore fully the expressive possibilities of the instrument. Even in his earliest works he revealed a sure grasp of idiomatic piano writing and a striking gift for melody.

Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18

Rachmaninov began working on his Piano Concerto No.2 in C Minor Op. 18 in the latter part of the summer of 1900. Rachmaninov, having regained his confidence, composed the second and third movements “quickly and easily”. However, he had much difficulty with the first movement. He premiered the work in incomplete form in Moscow on 2 December 1900. This was a daunting performance for Rachmaninov, because it had been eight years since his last performance with an orchestra. Luckily, the performance went off very well which was a great re-assurance to Rachmaninov. The complete work was premiered, again with the composer as soloist, on October 27, 1901 with his cousin Alexander Siloti conducting.

Concerto No. 2 is in three movements: Moderato – Adagio sostenuto – Allegro scherzando. It was a tremendous success with Russian audiences and quickly gained international fame afterwards. And here it came, the wonderful beginning for one of the greatest and the most beloved piano concerto of the 20th century.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer of the Romantic era. Tchaikovsky’s life was full of abnormal events. At first, he study law, then entered a music conservatory at his 23-year-old age, becoming a professor of harmony and finally deciding to devote his life to the composition. Struggling in his emotional life and society’s morality yet Tchaikovsky never failed to go on working. He left us a great legacy of valuable music works.

Tchaikovsky wrote music cross a range of genres, including: symphony, opera, ballet. His most famous works include: ballets “Swan Lake”, “The sleeping beauty” and “Nutcracker”; 1812 Overture, First Piano Concerto, the last three numberd symphonies, and the opera “Eugene Onegin”. His work is a manifestation, sometimes charming, often showy, of repressed feelings that became more and more desparing in later years and were most fully expressed in his Sixth Symphony, one of the greatest symphonic works of its time.

Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64

Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 composed by Tchaikovsy remains the most popular in the 2nd World War with the spirit of “determination to fight, determination to win”, even though, it is not among his most famous works like “The swan lake” ballet, symphony no. 6 “Pathetique”, “The Nutcracked”, Overture 1812, etc.

The symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 was written from May to August in 1888 and premiered on 6 November 1888 in St.Petersburg where he conducted it himself. When he first began writing it, Tchaikovsky was suffering from deep depression and thought he was “written out of ideas”. After, he had just moved to the countryside and was in a much more relaxed state of mind, enjoying the peace and quiet and gaining new found pleasure from his garden. This symphony reflects all the violent and conflicting emotions Tchaikovsky was experiencing at the time of its composition.

The 1st and 2nd movements, with melancholy in the manner of a funeral march, perhaps, share the same theme of “fate motive” with Sympony No. 4 (The Fate). Gradually, the charming and elegant waltz in the 3rd movment, and the spirit of “determination to fight, determination to win” and determination of undergoing fate make the symphony glorious with full of excitment. The symphony has 4 movements.

Solo pianist Vu Ngoc Linh

Vu Ngoc Linh was born in 1982. He started learning piano from 6 years old. He was accepted to School for Young and Gifted kids in Moscow. Back to Vietnam, he continued his studying at the Vietnam National Academy of Music under the guidance of Pro. Dr. People’s Teacher Tran Thu Ha. In 2001, Vu Ngoc Linh had been awarded full scholarship to study in USA where he took lessons from Pro. Mark Zeltser and Pro. Veda Zuponcic. During this period, he won several music prizes from various piano competitions held in USA and so on. In 2004, Vu Ngoc Linh won the 1st prize in the Piano and Orchestra competition in New Jersey (USA). In 2005, he won the 2nd prize by the Music Teachers Association of New Jersey and USA. In 2009, he continued his Master of Music in Australia.

Vu Ngoc Linh participated in piano recitals in many countries and performed with several symphony orchestras from USA, Russia, and Vietnam, etc… Also, he was invited as a guest artist to attend many music festivals and concerts throughout the world including UNICEF events and “Steinway & Sons” concert, etc… Vu Ngoc Linh is now a teacher in the Piano faculty at the Vietnam National Academy of Music.

Tickets

Ticket prices:
Rank S: VND 700,000/ticket
Rank A: VND 500,000/ ticket
Rank B: VND 300,000/ ticket
For students: VND 100,000/ ticket

– Tickets are available for sales at:
Hanoi Opera House – No. 1 Trang Tien Str., Hanoi (Free Delivery 0913 489 858 / 0983 067 996)
HCM City Municipal Theatre No. 7, Lam Son Construction, District 1, HCM City (08 6270 4450/ 098 987 4517)