‘Carmen' to bring City to its knees

Feisty fest: The HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera will stage Carmen by French composer Georges Bizet.

HCM CITY — Several works of French composer Georges Bizet will be performed by the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera this weekend.

The orchestra will perform Bizet's Roma Symphony in C Major, one of the composer's most popular pieces, to open the event.

Bizet wrote the work while he was studying at the Paris Music Conservatory under composer Charles Gounod. It was evidently a student assignment.

He started work on the symphony on a day in 1855, only four days after turning 17, and finished it a month later.

The Roma Symphony in C Major is recognised by music critics as a work in melody invention. Young conductor Tran Nhat Minh will lead the orchestra.

The show's second part will feature members of HBSO's ballet, including Nguyen Thu Trang, Ho Phi Diep and Dam Duc Nhuan, performing in Carmen, an opera in four acts by Bizet, who composed the work in 1875.

Carmen tells the story of Don Jose, a naive soldier who is seduced by the wiles of the fiery gypsy Carmen.

Its depiction of proletarian life, immorality and lawlessness, and the tragic outcome in which the main characters die on stage, broke new ground in French opera and was highly controversial.

The ballet is choreographed by Cuban Alberto Alonso, who is famous for his sensual dances.

The show will begin at 8pm tomorrow, at the Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square, District 1.

Tickets, ranging from VND150,000 (US$6) to VND300,000 ($15), are available at the theatre's box office. — VNS