2018.09.07

NHK Symphony Orchestra tour in Vietnam to commemorate the 45th year of Japan-Vietnam diplomatic relations (Hanoi)

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Friday, September 7, 2018 8:00p.m.

Opera House

Tchaikovsky / "Eugene Onegin" opera op.24
Lalo / “Symphonie espagnole”, d minor op.21*
Tchaikovsky / Symphony No.4 f minor op.36

Michiyoshi Inoue, conductor
Christian Tetzlaff, violin*

【Message】

In Hanoi it was as hot as Tokyo of this summer, but we could overcome the second concert as the passions of both the orchestra and the staff team were more than strong. Because of the serious typhoon damage the Kansai International Airport suffered from, Vietnam Airlines ran out of enough airplanes to transport all the instruments. The staff members of the main sponsor ANA made every effort in collaboration with Vietnam Airlines to break through this situation. The tour staff members also exerted all their powers to carry out their large mission to welcome the President of Vietnam. The Hanoi Opera House was completely renewed since I had visited ten years ago, and it was thanks to the Japanese conductor Tetsuji Honna, who has been Music Director of the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra (VNSO) based in Hanoi, and his friends’ true international exchange of many years that our concert was successfully held. I’m deeply grateful to the VNSO for their support! I’ve heard that foreign orchestras touring in both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are extremely rare for political reasons beyond our imagination: some people said it was even a miracle.
We began the concert with the spirited Vietnamese national anthem. In front of the Hanoian audience familiar with classical music (they didn’t clap their hands between the movements of the concerto, for example), the performance of the NSO meandered through Tchaikovsky’s music evoking a broad Russian plain, which was even agreeable to see “closing” my ears. I didn’t see the ceremonial greeting in the hall entrance lobby by a group of people in black business suit that I still often see in Japan… Anyway, I was really glad to live in this age of feeling like we are part of Asia... The next day of the concert, I also gave a sort of masterclass for local young students hoping to be orchestra conductors. I think I did my best with my sore throat.