Orchestra says cello to Schumann

High strung: Cellist Ngo Hoang Quan will perform the concerto by Schumann under the baton of conductor Dorian Wilson. — VNS Photo

HA NOI (VNS)— The Viet Nam National Symphony and Orchestra (VNSO) will premiere a cello concerto by Robert Schumann at the Ha Noi Opera House on November 1-2.

The piece will be performed by the leading cellist Ngo Hoang Quan under the baton of guest conductor Dorian Wilson.

"The concerto is one of the hardest pieces for cello performers," Quan said. "It is considered one of Schumann's more daring and adventurous works, due to the length of the exposition and the transcendental quality of the opening."

Quan was born in 1956 into a musical family in Ha Noi. He studied violin and cello at a young age with his father. After graduating with honours from the Viet Nam National Academy of Music in 1974, he went on to study at the Tchaikovsky Institute of Music in Moscow in 1976.

He took part in international music competitions in Moscow in 1986 and in Leipzig in 1988. Since 1982 he has been the director and cello soloist of the VNSO with numerous performances to his credit around the world.

The cello concerto was composed by Schumann between October 10 and 24 in 1850. But the first performance was posthumous in honour of the 50th anniversary of his birth.

The 25-minute concert will include three movements opening with a very short orchestral introduction followed by the presentation of the main theme and Quan's solo.

The piece is one of Schumann's greatest works which has not been performed in Viet Nam before, said veteran composer Hoang Duong, a cello teacher.

"Despite being in the cello repertoire in the romantic era, in Viet Nam it is usually only played by music master students at their graduation, Duong said.

Quan and the VNSO will play other pieces including Overture from opera Semiramide by Gioachino Rossini; Candide Overture and West Side suite by Leonard Bernstein; and Funny Face by George Gershwin. — VNS