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KVT catches Sibelius’ Symphony no. 5

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Nordics and Nature at Nha Hat Lon

I’m one the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra’s biggest fans and when I’m in Hanoi I try to catch as many of their concerts as I can. I’ve been able to listen to some of their really excellent music at the Opera House, in the superb acoustic auditorium at L’Espace and once in their rehearsal rooms before they left for Japan a year or two ago. Their Mahler cycle was a real treat. This week I went along to the Opera House to catch Sibelius’ Symphony no 5. Over the summer I’d had a Finnish experience and caught up with all seven of his major works and was aurally salivating (how’s that for a mangled metaphor?) about another main course.

The playing was competent but, to my mind, not up to the Orchestra’s usual standard. I thought that the first movement started a bit too discordantly and though I wanted to go along with the horn and tendril into the music I just couldn’t. The wistfulness of the second movement nearly succeeded and the pizzicato strings playing off the flute and woodwinds were quite strong. It was the last movement, that should glow golden and make you shiver in anticipation as one of Sibelius’ most famous melodies is heralded by the swan calls of the horns, that fell too flat… for me.

It was an interesting program of mainly Nordic music with Vietnamese composer Ton That Tiet’s 2008 composition Color of Sound, Color of Silence stealing the show.

The strings are obviously the Orchestra’s strongest section and the opening work Solar Wind for Strings by modern Norwegian composer Kjell Flem showcased them. It was lovely though too brief a bite at Flem’s 3 piece Ultima Thule which I hope the orchestra will tackle fully in the future.

Guest Violinist Stephan Barrat Due from Norway aptly and beautifully played Norwegian composer Svendsen’s Romance for Violin and Orchestra. Again too brief a taste of both violinist and composer and a treat to see Due smothered in bouquets at the conclusion.

The Vietnamese composition was full the mysticism of nature and thus thematically fitted in with Flem’s piece, and, for me, it was the best bit of the night and I’d love to hear it again. It deserves a wide audience. The composer was born in 1933 and I’ve enjoyed listening to his music in movies such as The Scent of Green Papaya and one of my favorite Vietnamese movies, The Vertical Ray of the Sun.

After you’ve seen the orchestra play a few dozen times the members become familiar faces and this performance seemed to have a few missing.

The overall performance by the orchestra, in my opinion, was a bit too like the uneven playing I’ve sometimes heard from the Hanoi Philharmonic… often good, sometimes very good and sometimes wandering about a bit. But I’ll keep on contacting Tickets Vietnam as soon as a concert is announced and ensure I get my usual good seats.

PS: Sibelius fans can catch some images and sounds of the 5th on You Tube……look up Sibelius No 5 on the net. The 3rd movement is visually goose bumpy.

Not a reviewer, not a critic, “Kiếm Văn Tìm” is an interested, impartial and informed observer and connoisseur of the Hanoi art scene who offers highly opinionated remarks and is part of the long and venerable tradition of anonymous correspondents. Please add your thoughts in the comment field below.

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