L'Espace hosts maiden concert by flutist Huong

Flutist Nguyen Ly Huong will perform her debut recital this weekend in Ha Noi at the French cultural centre, L'Espace.

Huong, 24, took first place in an international flute competition in southern China's Nanning City last year. The recent Viet Nam National Academy of Music graduate will perform a mix of classical and contemporary works for L'Espace, including a Chinese piece called Sao Dem (Night Flute) that helped her beat 78 competitors in Nanning.

Huong and two guest musicians, pianist Quynh Trang and clarinetist Tran Khanh Quang, will perform experimental versions of pieces originally composed for orchestras.

After her Ha Noi debut, she'll appear on stage at the Toyota Classics 2014 concert in HCM City on November 18. She will perform Mozart's Flute Concerto's first movement with the Covent Garden Soloists Orchestra.

"It is an honour for me to play with the orchestra, which was founded by members of London's world-renowned Royal Opera House," Huong said. "I'm confident about playing with the orchestra, because I forget everything while I'm playing music."

Hotels join competition to celebrate culinary culture

Twelve four- and five-star hotels in Ha Noi and HCM City have been taking part in the Exceptional Taste Award competition to celebrate culinary cultures.

Launched by the Business Review Magazine, the award honours exceptional tastes from across the world, with participating restaurants preparing a range of meals that show off their understanding of a range of cultures.

During the nearly three-month competition starting from end of October, restaurants have had a chance to promote their signature specialties, and demonstrate their international culinary expertise.

Each menu has been prepared and served by the restaurants' top chefs, along with a Singleton of Glen Ord single-scotch whisky.

The 12 restaurants have been divided into four groups to compete in the elimination rounds.

The winner from each group will then advance to the final round to compete for the title of "exceptional taste" as well as valuable prizes to be held on January 7.

Exhibition portrays colourful Belarus

Belarusian people, culture and nature are being celebrated by a painting exhibition that opened yesterday in Ha Noi.

Marking the Belarus Cultural Days, the six-day exhibition showcases 70 paintings by remarkable artists.

The colourful oil paintings deploy the "alla prima" (Italian for "at once") technique in which layers of wet paint are applied to previous layers of wet paint.

Instead of building colours up with layers or glazing over an underpainted surface, the painting is completed while the paint is still wet. So an "alla prima" painting would be started and finished in one painting session.

This technique requires a fast pace of work, because the painting has to be finished before the first layers have dried.

Vasiliy Yasyuk has 20 of his paintings displayed at the exhibition.

He said he treasures the chance to introduce to Vietnamese people the beauty of his country.

"I expect that through my works, visitors get a glimpse into Belarus. You will understand a part of our culture, architecture and daily life, you will see how many seasons there are in Belarus and how different they are from each other. "

Yasyuk visited Viet Nam several years ago and was impressed by the Central Highlands city of Da Lat, where the weather is similar to his favourite Alps region.

He hoped that one day, Belarusian people would enjoy works by Vietnamese artists.

Belarusian Colours will run until Friday at the Culture and Arts Exhibition Centre, 2 Hoa Lu Street, Ha Noi.

Belarusian troupes will perform in the northern cities of Ha Noi and Hai Phong as part of Belarus Cultural Days, which will be held from November 2 to 7.

Artistes from two troupes, the I Zhinovich National Academic People's Orchestra of Belarus and Pesnyary, will perform at the Ha Noi Opera House on November 4 and the Hai Phong Opera House on November 5.

Established in 1930, the orchestra is one of the oldest musical groups of Belarus. It laid the foundation for the development of folk music. Its repertoire consists of more than 2,000 pieces of Belarusian folk songs and dances, the original works of Belarusian composers and Russian and foreign classical compositions, besides contemporary music.

The folk-rock band Pesnyary, also known as Pesniary, founded in 1969 by guitarist Vladimir Mulyavin, combines various types of music, but mostly plays Belarusian folk music with psychedelic rock elements. The band often uses lyrics from famous Russian and Belarusian poets of the past. Entry is by invitation only.

Renowned composer compiles lullaby album

An album recently produced by composer Le Minh Son highlights a genre – lullabies - that has all but slipped from the consciousness of new music being produced in the country.

With A Oi, Son has carved out a special place for himself among the new generation of composers.

Son says it was "personal demand" that inspired this album.

"I put my babies to sleep by using any lyric that I remembered by chance. And most of time, I just turned on the CD player," he said.

Son thought his babies deserved better, and hopes his new album will inspire young mothers to sing more lullabies for their babies.

Produced by Son and his professional team with the likes of Tran Manh Hung and Luu Ha An, both leading composers of modern Vietnamese music, A Oi has eight songs, all very old, collected from different parts of the country.

The songs are performed by well-known singers including quan ho (love duet) and cheo (traditional opera) artistes Thuy Huong and Thu Huyen.

Another noteworthy aspect of the album is that the songs are not orchestrated with traditional instruments. They are accompanied by string and electronic instruments.

"Lullaby is one of the most valuable parts of traditional culture, marking an important milestone in human life," Son said at a press conference on his new production.

Son, 39 was born into a musical family. He began learning music from his father, composer Le Minh Chau, when he was just three years old. He started to compose on his own when he was just 11 years old.

After graduating in guitar performances from the Viet Nam Academy of Music in 1999, Son went to France for further studies.

On his return, he achieved renown as a soloist playing Flamenco melodies. He also began writing songs based on folk music.

When his Chuon Chuon Ot (Red Dragonfly) was sung by Ngoc Khue at the Sao Mai Singing Contest 2003, many people felt it was very different from other pop songs that they had heard before.

Later, Son came out with a series of songs including Oi Que Toi ! (Oh, My Homeland !), Ben Bo Ao Nha Minh (By Our Pond) and Da Chong Chong (Stone-Woman Waits for Husband) that made him popular. It is generally acknowledged that not many singers can sing his compositions.

"Son's songs are simple but very creative. They are contemporary, but come out of Son's nostalgia," said veteran musician Nguyen Cuong.

"When I listen to Son's music, I find it difficult to place it. On the surface, he seems to be more rural, but actually he is more urban than urbanites.

"This contrast has created a completely different picture of Son which cannot be matched by any one else in the music industry."

Son goes to great lengths in having direct experiences inspire his songs.

He travelled for a month in the central region to see first-hand how locals deal with natural disasters. After the trip, he wrote Sau Bao (After the Storm), a song that speaks for all the travails that residents of the central region face.

Another song, Mot Khuc Song Hong (A Red River Improvisation), was in the writing for three years. He spent around 12 hours sitting on the banks of the Red River from early in the morning and still waited for a long time later for the muse to strike him.

The song has become very popular through renditions by singers like Thanh Lam and Tung Duong.

Thanh Lam's performance earned the composer an award a in the Bai Hat Yeu Thich (Favourite Song) television series.

Hoang Quyen, Tung Duong, Ngoc Khue and Ha Linh are singers who can vouch for Son's desire to "discover young talents and help them emerge".

After he won a Ha Noi Television singing award, Tung Duong came into his own after performing Son's songs at another contest held by Viet Nam Television.

Ten years after their first collaboration, the two artists held a live show last June, rocking the audience with Bien Cua Ta (Our Sea).

"When the show was organised, China was operating its rig in Vietnamese seas illegally. As a composer, I show my patriotism through my songs," Son said.

Son is now working on producing a jazz-pop album with Tung Duong called Khong Mua (No Season) that will introduce eight new songs.

New Diary of a Wimpy Kid book launched this week

HCMC-based publisher Phuong Nam Cultural Company (PNC) will debut the 9th book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series on Tuesday nationwide in coincidence with its worldwide launch.

In Th e Long Haul book, wimpy boy Grey Heffl ey will have an unforgettable camping experience with his family as there are lots of unpredictable and funny moments during the trip.

Readers may burst out laughing to see a series of troubles as well as playful jokes by Grey Heffl ey. Jeff Kinney, the author, opens the book’s preface as “A family road trip is supposed to be a lot of fun … unless, of course, you’re the Heffleys.”

The “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series shot American writer Jeff Kinney to Top 100 most infl uential people in the world in 2009 by Time magazine.

With a mischievous way of storytelling together with cute pictures, the series was Th e New York Times bestseller in 75 consecutive weeks with two million copies sold. A fi lm with the same name was released in 2010.

PNC has been a distributor of the series in Vietnam since the launch of the fi rst book in 2007.

Exploring Vietnamese culture at Viet Artisans

For tourists to the Mekong Delta, craft products like small postcards with Vietnamese landscapes and folklores, handmade paper bags and other fine artworks are good for them to learn more about local art and culture.

Nested in a longan farm, the 900-square-meter Viet Artisans craft center in Vinh Long Province is a miniature of Vietnam’s peaceful countryside with rustic images of small wooden boats, hammocks swinging under shady leaves and plates of traditional delta cakes for tourists.

The center is co-founded by Lily Phan, a Vietnamese-American lady, who has profound sympathy and love for craftswomen in An Binh Islet. She wants to help them earn higher incomes, and promote local craft products to foreigners.

“Many foreign visitors to Vietnam not only admire stunning landscapes but also discover local culture and experience locals’ daily life. Therefore, via small craft products like postcards, paper bags and notebooks with images of lotus flowers, rivers, canals, boats and ao dai (Vietnamese long dress), I hope they can get a glimpse of the beauty of the delta and dexterity of Vietnamese women,” said Phan.

Admission to Viet Artisans is free. Tourists can take a bus ride priced at VND350,000 per person to travel from HCMC to Vinh Long. The center offers not only handmade souvenirs but also specialties of the Mekong Delta.

The Great Passage opens Japanese film fest 2014

The Great Passage, a 2013 Japanese film directed by Yuya Ishii, will be screened at BHD Star Cineplex Icon 68 on November 13 to open the ‘New Wind Returns - Japanese Film and Animation 2014’ in HCMC. The festival will run from November 13 to 18 and will screen 35 of the latest movies and animation works by promising Japanese filmmakers.

Japanese directors and filmmakers will talk about animation film making techniques with students at HCMC University of Pedagogy on November 17.

The Great Passage is based on the best-selling novel by Shiwon Miura. The film won several awards, including the Japan Academy Prize for Picture of the Year, and also received several nominations. It was selected as the Japanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards.

The film follows Majime, an eccentric man working for a publishing company, who has a unique ability of words and joins a team that will compile a new dictionary called ‘The Great Passage.’ He becomes immersed in the world of dictionaries.

Tickets are delivered freely from 10 a.m. on November 9 at the cinema in the Bitexco Financial Tower, 2 Hai Trieu Street in downtown HCMC.