HÀ NỘI – Noted artists from Austria will perform with the Việt Nam Symphony Orchestra in a concert titled "Music from Vienna: Mozart & Strauss" at Hà Nội Opera House on November 26.

The event is a highlight in a series of events hosted by the Austrian embassy in Hà Nội to commemorate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Artists will perform works by Wolfgang A. Mozart, Johann Strauss, Josef Strauss and Emmerich Kálmán.

"We are happy that we are able to realise this concert together the VNSO and the chief conductor Honna Tetsuji," said Hans-Peter Glanzer, Austrian ambassador to Việt Nam, at a press conference on Tuesday. "We have already co-operated this year with that [agency] to portrait all the composers of the new Vienese school of music, which mark a new effort to perform works of the most important representatives of this school in the context of an exhibition in the National Library."

From left: Chu Anh Hùng (Deputy Director of Hà Nội Opera House), Hans-Peter Glanzer (Austrian Ambassador), Honna Tetsuji (Music Director & Chief Conductor at VNSO) and Trịnh Tùng Linh (Director of VNSO) at the press conference on Tuesday. VNS Photo Lê Hương

He said this event would be the final one to round off this remarkable year.

The concert will take place at 8 pm, at the Hà Nội Opera House, on November 26. Tickets are available at the opera house; and Star Lotus No 111 Mai Hắc Đế Street, Tel: 091 8 152 992 (Vietnamese-Japanese).

The artists from Austria include violinist/conductor Rainer Honeck, baritone vocalist Adrian Erod and soprano Marta Poliszot.

Honeck has performed solo at prestigious halls in Europe (Royal Albert Hall, Londo), the US (Carnegie Hall, New York) and Japan (Suntory Hall, Tokyo). His personal highlights include soloist appearances with the Vienna Philharmonic (performing Dvorak's Violin Concerto conducted by Mariss Jansons and Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with Tobias Lea on viola, conducted by Riccardo Muti).

Violinist/conductor Rainer Honeck. Photo salzburgerfestspiele.at

As the leader of the Wiener Virtuosen, the Wiener Streichersolisten, the Ensemble Wien and the Vienna-Berlin Chamber Orchestra, Honeck is also a prolific chamber musician, appearing on numerous studio and broadcast radio recordings, performing with prominent artists, including Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle and Angelina Kirchschlager.

As a conductor in recent years, he has performed with Malmo Symphony Orchestra in Sweden, the Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra and Kioi Sinfonietta in Tokyo, the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra and the Mariinskt Theatre Orchestra in St Petersburg.

Adrian Erod is a great favourite of the public and press at his base, the Vienna State Opera, with his tremendous diversity, whether as Figaro in Rossini's Barber of Seville, as Valentin in Gounod's Faust, as Britten's Billy Budd or as Lescaut in Massenet's Manon.

Baritone vocalist Adrian Erod. Photo schmopera.com

He has succeeded Christian Thielemann as Sixtus Beckmesser in Wagner's Meistersinger, which has led to an invitation to Bayreuth Festival, Beckmesser also in Zurich, Cologne, Leipzig, Tokyo and Amsterdam.

Marta Poliszot was born in Krakow, Poland. She was a student of Krakow Opera Ballet Studion and the city's Fryderyk Chopin Academy, where she studied piano. After graduating from secondary school, and while still studying at the Vocal Actor Studio, she was invited to audition at the Krakow Opera and cast as Pepi in Johann Strauss' operetta Wiener Blut. Then she was offered a contract as a soloist and performed as a member of the opera company for many years.

Soprano Marta Poliszot. Photo poliszot.com

Poliszot has a beautiful, sonorous lyrical coloratura soprano voice and wonderful physical abilities.

Theatre critic Jowita Dziedric wrote about her in Gazeta Wyborcza: "On the stage, she is like a fish in water; her movements are full of grace, and her voice flawless."

Trịnh Tùng Linh, director of the VNSO, said the event would be a great chance for Vietnamese artists at the VNSO to perform with great names of Austrian music.

Honna Tetsuji, music director and conductor of the VNSO, said the three Austrian artists would talk about 20th-century music to Vietnamese artists in a master class on November 24 in Hà Nội. VNS