KVT – Mozart Cycles Hanoi

Intimate space and delightfully intimate Mozart

If only every Friday evening could ease into its weekend like the past two have done!
Sitting in the delightful, refurbished little auditorium of the Vietnamese Cultural Space at  16 Le Thai To with musicians from the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra playing music from the Classical period is easy listening. Last Friday they began the first part of their Mozart Cycle with music from the composer’s early years.

The 14 minute ‘Serenata Notturna’, Serenade no 6, was a tasty hors d’oeuvre and the third movement with its violins singing and tympani reverberating was lovely, foot tappingly so, and could be imagined being accompanied by a glass of slightly chilled New Zealand  sauvignon blanc.

The Concerto in D for Flute and orchestra of strings, two oboes and two horns was an inviting first course that lasted about 24 minutes and with Nguyen Dieu Hong playing the flute (as a very worthy substitute for Nguyen Hong Anh) it was worthy of an expensive, dry Chablis. Hong played eloquently and in the intimate theater the passages in the lower register were almost as clear as those in upper octaves. The second movement was poignant and the third as thrilling and trilling as it should be with the flute holding its own with the orchestra even at fortissimo. Lovely work.

The last course was the well known Symphony 29. A slightly hesitant start soon got into gear and the popular first movement was worthy of the first sip of a Tasmanian Pinot Noir (with its subtle flavors of deep, dark chocolate and lush, ripe strawberries) that my mind conjured up for it…..especially as my favorite part, the andante, with its understating horns, smoothed its journey. The symphony rippled on in its youthfully impulsive way and stayed with me as I exited into the almost balmy spring night.

It was a successful start to the cycle which continues on April 29 and 30.

I can’t understand why, at 200 000 VND a seat, there are still a few empty! Soon the word will get round and they’ll become as scarce as hen’s teeth.

Our marvellous conductor, Ong Honna  is so much at home with these intimate chamber music style orchestras and so often makes them deliciously spritzig.