Pianist to perform to celebrate Beethoven’s birthday

Pianist Nguyen Duc Anh will perform in a concert celebrating the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birthday at the HCM City Opera House on November 28. (Photo: courtesy of HBSO)

HCM City - Pianist Nguyen Duc Anh, who earned a master’s degree at Freiburg Conservatory of Music in Germany, will perform in a concert celebrating the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birthday at the HCM City Opera House on November 28.

Anh will give a solo performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5, in E-flat Major, op. 73, known as the Emperor Concerto.

The three-movement work, written between 1809 and 1811, was the composer’s last completed piano concerto.

The composition was first performed at the Palace of Prince Joseph Lobkowitz in Vienna in 1811.

Pianist Anh, 29, was born into a musical family in Hanoi. He started studying piano at the Vietnam National Academy of Music when he was seven years old.

He has won top prizes at international competitions, such as the 2nd International Piano Competition in Hanoi in 2012, and the Alkan-Zimmerman International Piano Competition in Athens in 2014.

In 2015, he received a scholarship from the German government. He earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree with distinction for piano performance at Freiburg Conservatory of Music in 2015-2017.

Anh has been a guest artist at international music festivals such as the Autumn International Festival in HCM City, the Gina Bachauer Music Festival in Corfu, Greece, and the Long Lake Festival in Lugano, Switzerland.

He has been invited to perform with the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, Hanoi Chamber Orchestra, and Hanoi Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 2017, Anh and pianists Duong Vu Minh, Luu Duc Anh và Nguyen Phu Son, who have studied piano for years in Europe, established the Maestoso group to contribute to the development of classical music in Vietnam.

In 2020, Anh returned to Vietnam after achieving success abroad.

He now works as Head of the Piano Department at the city-based Soul Music and Performing Arts Academy.

After the intermission, the concert will continue with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, op 55, also known as the Eroica (heroic) Symphony.

The four-movement symphony, written between 1803 and 1804, was one of the composer’s most celebrated works. It was first performed in 1805 in Vienna.

The performance will feature the orchestra of the HCM City Balley Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO).

Tran Nhat Minh, a graduate of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, will wield the baton.

The concert will begin at 8pm at 7 Lam Son Square in District 1. Tickets are available at the venue and at www.ticketbox.vn.