HCM CITY — The HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) will present works by Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich in a concert at the city’s Opera House on January 9.

The performance will feature Piano Concerto No 1in B-flat minor, op 23, one of the most popular compositions by Tchaikovsky.

The piece was composed in 1875 and first performed by German pianist Hans von Bülow. It was revised in 1889 and has been played by many famous pianists, including Vladimir Horowitz, Lang Lang and Van Cliburn. 

Vietnamese-Canadian pianist Hồ Thị Thể Vân and the HBSO symphony orchestra will perform the work.

Shostakovich’s Symphony No 5 in D Minor, op 47, composed over three months in 1937, premiered in Russia by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra under conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky. The performance was a huge success and received audience applause for half an hour.

Conductor Lê Phi Phi, who has returned from Macedonia, will lead the concert.

Phi, who graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 1993, was the principal conductor of Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra until 2000.

He has performed with Macedonian National Symphony Orchestra, Macedonian Ballet Theatre, the Symphony Orchestra of the city of Nis in Serbia, the Việt Nam National Opera Ballet and HBSO in HCM City.

He has toured in Macedonia, Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Sweden, Albania and Bulgaria and is currently teaching at the Macedonian Centre of Opera and Ballet.

The concert will begin at 8pm at 7 Lam Sơn Square in District 1. Tickets are available at the venue’s box office and at www.tickebox.vn. — VNS