Top violinist to celebrate Beethoven’s birthday

Vietnam’s leading violinist Bui Cong Duy (Photo: VNA)

HCM City – Vietnam’s leading violinist Bui Cong Duy will perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto at the HCM City Opera House on October 31 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birthday.

Duy, deputy rector for concert activities at the Vietnam National Academy of Music, will perform with the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO).

Beethoven composed Violin Concerto in 1806. It was first performed in 1845 by Austrian violinist Franz Clement, but the performance was unsuccessful.

In 1844, the three-movement concerto was played by 12-year-old violinist Joseph Joachim with the orchestra of the London Philharmonic Society conducted by Felix Mendelssohn. Since then it has had innumerable recordings.

Duy, 39, who began playing violin at the age of four under the instruction of his father, violinist Bui Cong Thanh, is a graduate of the Tchaikovsky National Music College in Moscow.

He has won top prizes at international competitions, including first prize and a gold medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in St Petersburg in 1997.

He has performed at concerts in many European and Asian countries, and at prestigious halls such as Berliner Symphoniker in Germany and Capella Concert Hall in Russia.

Duy has been a featured soloist in many important events such as the Special Concert for the Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly in Hà Nội in 2015, Special Concert for APEC 2017 in Vietnam, and welcoming concerts for the President of Russia and the President of the Republic of Korea.

He has served as a jury member at international competitions such as the VI International Violin Competition in Astana, Kazakhstan in 2016, and the 8th and 10th Tchaikovsky International Competitions for Young Musicians in Moscow in 2014 and in Astana in 2017.

He has been artistic director of the Vietnam Classical Players and executive director of the Việt Nam Connection Music Festival since 2015.

The HBSO symphony orchestra will continue the night with Beethoven’s Symphony No 6, also known as the Pastoral Symphony.

The five-movement symphony was composed in 1808, and was first played in the same year at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.

Conductor Le Ha My, a graduate of Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, will lead the concert.

My has orchestrated and conducted successful concerts with Yaroslav Philharmonic Orchestra, the Moscow State Conservatory Orchestra, and the Glinka Conservatory Orchestra of Magnitogorsk City.

Since 2010, he has collaborated with the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, Vietnam National Opera and Ballet Orchestra and HBSO, and has organised several musical programmes with Vietnam Television (VTV).

The concert will begin at 8pm. The venue is at 7 Lam Son Square in District 1. Tickets are available at the venue’s box office and at ticketbox.vn.