Concert on the ocasssion of the 250th Anniversary of Beethoven’s Birthday
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a great German musician of the classical music school. He was recognized as an influential composer on the world’s music as well as a foundation for romantic music period. He has left a list of great works for humanity including nine symphonies, five concertos for piano and orchestra, one concerto for violin and orchestra in D major, one concerto for violin, cello and piano and orchestra in C major, thirty-two sonatas for piano and ten sonatas for violin.
In Viet Nam, in harmony with the concert series on the occassion of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birthday, the Viet Nam National Academy of Music organized two concerts with the performance of solo artists from the Piano Department and the String Department together with the Hanoi Philharmonic Orchestra.
The concert in the evening of the 10th of Octorber 2020 started with the Overture Prometheus Op. 43 performed by the Hanoi Philharmonic orchestra under the direction of conductor Nguyen Phu Son; Followed by the Romance No.1, G major, Op. 40 performed by Eminent Artist Phan Thi To Trinh in solo violin and the orchestra; the Romance No. 2 in F major, op. 50 performed by Eminent Artist Duong Minh Chinh in violin solo and the orchestra. The program was closed with the Concerto No. 5, E flat major, Op. 73 performed by Dr. Dao Trong Tuyen in piano solo and the orchestra. The Concerto No. 5 popularly known as Emperor Concerto was written by Beethoven between 1809 and 1811 in Vienna, in the midst of Austro-French war. This famous concerto has the scale close to a symphony which is rich in images, complicated in technique and extremely attractive with its impressive beauty through melodic motifs which are rustic and majestic.
For the concert in the evening of the 21st of November 2020, the first part was the “Triple” Concerto in C major, Op. 56 performed by soloists Nguyen My Huong (violin), Nguyen Hong Anh (cello), Tran Thai Linh (piano) and the orchestra. The following part was the Symphony No.8 in F major, Op. 93 performed by the Hanoi Philharmonic Orchestra under the conducting of Eminent Artist Tran Vuong Thach. The Concerto in C major, Op. 56 composed by Beethoven between 1803 and 1804 includes three movements (Allegro - Largo - Rondo alla). This was a triple concerto, so Beethoven attached special importance to the distribution of themes and sound balance, in which cello part was emphasized to create the highlight by appearing first and introducing most of the key musical themes.
It could be said that 2020 was the year when the whole world was influenced by the covid epidemic, many concerts had to switch to online performance. In the same that general situation, during the first four months of this year, the concert hall of the Academy seemed to be forgotten. However, when the social gap was removed, the artists wholeheartedly practised and rehearsed again. As a result, even though there were no exchange performances with foreign artist groups during one year, the artists of the Academy still have the initiative to build quality music programs that bring precious moral foods to the capital audience to overcome the year 2020 with lots of hardships. ■
HO THI HONG DUNG