Well-known French piano soloist returns to Hanoi

French piano soloist Guigla Katsarava returns to Vietnam to perform Concert Vol.72 “Pathetique” at the Hanoi Opera House on August 19-20.

At the concert Katsarava played works of Russian in famous composer P.I.Tchaikovsky entitled Symphony No.6 “Pathetique” and Piano Concerto No1.

The event also attracted the participation of conductor Le Phi Phi, who has been successful at home and abroad. Guigla Katsarava is known for his Russian-style performance.

He used to play solo or joined other famous orchestras around the world, and is now teaching in France and other countries.

Belgian ballet dance troupe performs in city

The contemporary dance band from Belgium, Les Ballets C De La B will give a performance at Ho Chi Minh City Opera House on August 19.

The  famous“Out of Context: For Pina” performance, directed by Alain Platel will be performed by dancers, inclduing Elie Tass, Emile Josse, HyoSeung Ye, Kaori Ito, Mathieu Desseigne Ravel, Mélanie Lomoff, Quan Bui Ngoc.

Artists has impressed audiences with involuntary and spasmodic movements to connect the unconsciousness, the arbitrariness and the uncontrollableness of the people, such as teeth chattering, sticking out tongues, blinking eyes, frowning, grimacing, and briefly jerking limbs such as torsos, pelvis, and heads.

Group art exhibitions in HCMC and Kontum

As many as 187 artworks by 184 artists from Kontum, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Gia Lai, Daklak, Danang and Khanh Hoa are being displayed at Kontum Museum in the Central Highlands until August 25.

On display are not only paintings made of various materials of oil, lacquer, acrylic and mixed media but also many sculptures made of composite, wood, bronze, ceramics.

Visitors have a chance to take a journey through splendid landscapes of coastal and highlands regions, a glimpse of daily life as well as unique cultural and religious features of ethnic minority groups. The works convey the endless creativeness of the artists and new art styles in contemporary art trends.

* More than 50 artworks by artists Nguyen Van Thuan and Kong Tam are being exhibited at Gallery Café Lavie, 17 Ho Xuan Huong in HCMC’s District 3 until August 25. The works allow visitors to freely imagine the fantasy world, the beauty of women and preoccupations of the urban life.

Some 30 clubs to join national Ca tru festival

A national Ca tru (ceremonial singing) festival will be organised in Hanoi from August 26 – 29 with the participation of nearly 30 Ca tru clubs from 12 provinces and cities in a bid to preserve the UNESCO-recognised cultural heritage item.

At a press briefing in Hanoi on August 19, the chief director of the event musician Dang Hoanh Loan said young artists will dominate the festival in stead of elders, which signals a renaissance of the time-honoured art.

They are encouraged to perform Ca tru in their own ways, the composer added.

Ca tru, also known as Hat a dao, was recognised by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in October 2009.

It is an ancient type of music featuring female vocalists. It is a complex form of poetry found in the north of Vietnam using lyrics written in traditional Vietnamese poetic forms.

Ca tru groups comprise of three performers: a female singer who uses breathing techniques and vibrations to create unique sounds while playing the clappers or striking a wooden box, and two instrumentalists who produce the deep tones of a three-stringed lute and the strong sounds of a ceremonial drum.

Ca tru singing appeared in the north around the 15th century and thrived until the early 20th century. Since then, it has lost popularity to modern recreational forms and cultural activities.

This kind of singing is now practised in 15 provinces and cities across Vietnam.-

Viet Thuong hosts Steinway piano exhibition this week

Viet Thuong, the distributor of renowned Steinway & Sons piano brand, will organize “The No. 1 Steinway Historical Roadshow” from August 22 to 24 at Level 3 of the Crescent Mall in HCMC’s District 7.

The event aims to mark the 161st anniversary of Steinway, an American and German manufacturer of handmade piano and 130 years of the birth of the piano called Steinway Model D.

Participants in the event will admire three unique pianos, Steinway No.1 Piano, Steinway Square Piano, and Steinway Wagner Piano which have been traveling around the world to mark the establishment of the company.

Attendees will enjoy performances of young talented artists and exchanges with popular musicians and lecturers. Especially, there is a performance of three young artists Linh Chi, Bach Anh and The Vinh who have gained numerous piano awards in the world at 5 p.m. on Friday. Professor/pianist and teacher Tran Thu Ha will also be there for a talk with piano lovers.

Conservation of Hue Imperial City’s oldest relic completes

Ta Tra building, an important relic of the Hue Imperial City in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, was reopened on August 20 after a period of conservation.

Phan Thanh Hai, Director of the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre, said Ta Tra, built in 1804 – the oldest in the city, is part of the Dien Tho Palace. It served as a relaxation and reception place of Queen Mothers under the Nguyen Dynasty (1802 – 1945).

It cost the centre 11.1 billion VND (nearly 528,600 USD) to restore the building comprehensively from wood frame, roof, foundation, walls, to ornamental details as it was seriously downgraded due to war and weather impacts. The work was carried out by the centre and the branch of the Institute for Building Science and Technology in the central region.

The Dien Tho Palace, grouping more than 10 buildings located within a rectangular area some 100m in width and 150m in length, is a major part of Hue Imperial City – a UNESCO-recognised cultural heritage since 1993.

Classic films to be screened for National Day

Classic Vietnamese movies and documentaries will be screened nationwide to celebrate National Day (September 2).

The films are Vi Tuyen 17 Ngay va Dem (17th Parallel, Nights and Days), Chung Mot Dong Song (Sharing the Same River), Luy Thep Vinh Linh (Vinh Linh Steel Rampart) and Lang Chai Vinh Moc (Vinh Moc Fishing Village).

Sharing the Same River is the first feature film of Vietnamese revolutionary cinema. It won the Golden Lotus prize, the highest accolade, at the second Viet Nam Film Festival in 1973.

Made the same year, 17th Parallel, Nights and Days was entered into the 8th Moscow International Film Festival, where Tra Giang, who played the main female role, won the award for Best Actress.

Vietnamese troupe set to perform at Cambodia event

A group of Vietnamese artists will participate in Vietnamese Culture Days in Phnom Penh, held from August 30 to September 6.

Led by Truong Nhuan, director of the Youth Theatre, the 26-member group will perform Vietnamese and Cambodian songs and dances.

Organised by Viet Nam's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the event aims to strengthen relations between Viet Nam and Cambodia.

Hue to hold thanh tra festival

Hue will hold a festival in honour of its special fruit thanh tra, a local variety of grapefruit, and its growers.

During the two-day festival from August 29 to 31, the fruit and dishes made from it would be displayed. Visitors would also have a chance to help the fruit growers harvest thanh tra in orchards.

Thanh tra was an exclusive food item meant for the king in the past, and ordinary people rarely got a chance to taste it. The trees grow well in Hue only, in fields lined with alluvia deposited by the local Huong and Bo rivers.

Thanh tra is said to taste better than grapefruit and good-quality essential oil is extracted from its peel. The fruit can be served fresh, mixed with fried squid, or cooked as a sweet soup.

The local authorities expect that many people would get to know and taste the fruit at the festival, which would help increase its sale.

The authorities will also showcase other local food specialties, allowing visitors to taste items such as bun bo (beef noodles), com hen (rice with mussels), banh khoai (fried rice crepes), me xung (sesame candy), che hat sen (sweet lotus seed pudding) and mam tom (pickled shrimp).

Poster exhibition imparts border knowledge to Can Tho people

A poster exhibition is underway in Ninh Kieu port, the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, to improve locals’ knowledge about Vietnam’s border and seas and islands.

The display, beginning on August 19, features more than 60 posters and ancient maps affirming Vietnam’s sovereignty over its seas and islands, including Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos.

The exhibits also depict the will of Vietnamese fishermen and law enforcement forces to protect the fatherland’s sovereignty.

Director of the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Tran Viet Phuong said the event is to raise public awareness of border issues and promote patriotism.

The exhibition will run through August 25.

Painting exhibition features RoK ideas

An exhibition has been organised in Hue city, the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, showcasing 20 acrylic paintings and seven videos by two female artists from the Republic of Korea, Eugene Jung and Kim Sung Mi.

Running from August 12-18, the “Point of Intersection” exhibition featured daily life-minor trauma, stress – unexpected happenings that are interconnected, such as trauma of war violence.

It also showed the artists’ personal view on the position of women in the society. The “point of intersection” exists between language and non-verbal and is reflected in traditional rituals of Korean people, including the Shamanism rituals for healing.

The event was part of a cooperation programme between the Hue-based New Space Arts Foundation and the Republic of Korea’s Hive Art Camp.

Writing competition reveals new talent

Literary works by 18 young writers submitted to a writing contest organised by three prestigious national organisations have received a warm response from readers.

These high-quality works were the final contributions from the fifth National Youth Writing Competition, which began in 2012 and will end later this year by the HCM City Writers' Association, in co-operation with Tre (Youth) Publishing House and Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

All the books focus on the lives of young people, their challenges and dreams in a changing world.

The jury composed of noted authors, including Nguyen Dong Thuc and Doan Thach Bien, will name the winners in the categories of fiction and short stories later this year.

Highlighted books include Hat Hoa Binh (Peaceful Seed), Urem – Nguoi Dang Mo (Urem – The Dreamer) and Chon Ron Xu Nguoi (The Bustle and Hustle in a Foreign Country).

The 168-page fictional work Hat Hoa Binh written by Tran Nguyen Minh, known as Minh Moon, who works for a magazine in HCM City, tells war stories in Cambodia in 1978.

Although the wars ended before she was born, Minh still gives them a fresh perspective.

Unlike other young writers, Minh is keen on writing about war and history even though many people have told her these topics do not appeal to all readers.

"Young writers need to overcome hardships in daily life to maintain sufficient involvement in writing," said Minh in an interview with local media after releasing her work.

Like Minh, Pham Ba Diep, a student of the HCM City University of Social Science and Humanities, used fantasy writing to complete Urem – Nguoi Dang Mo, a 500-page novel.

Through his work, Diep sends his message about the earth and human beings.

Mai Thanh Nga's Chon Ron Xu Nguoi tells the lives and challenges of young Vietnamese living in Paris.

The National Youth Writing Contest is held every two years and aims to give the writers, particularly those under the age of 40, a chance to develop their careers as well as bring writers and publishers together to introduce new, quality books for readers.

This fifth contest received 179 short stories and 149 fictional works by professional and amateur writers at home and abroad.

Previous competitions have produced winners who have gone on to become popular among young readers, like Nguyen Ngoc Thuan, Nguyen Huong and Nguyen Ngoc Tu.

Tu, in particular, has succeeded in impressing both young and older readers by focusing on rural life, featuring the simple lifestyle of farmers in her native land, the southern province of Ca Mau.

Her first book, Canh Dong Bat Tan (Endless Fields), proved to be a bestseller as soon as it hit the shelves in HCM City bookshops in 2005.

The book was also honoured with the Southeast Asian Writers Award in 2008. The award is given annually by the Thai Royal Family to encourage and honour poets and writers in Southeast Asia.