ĐÀ LẠT – A chorus performance of Truyện Kiều (The Tale of Kiều) was held in St Nicolas Cathedral in Đà Lạt City on November 26.

The event was organised by the church and artist Vũ Đình Ân from HCM City’s Music Association to give locals an opportunity to enjoy one of masterpieces of Nguyễn Du, according to the organisers.

The 65-minute performance was directed by artist Vũ Đình Ân, sang by the Thiên Thanh group, presented by two singers, Đông Nghi and Thanh Sử and danced by a group of nuns.  

The chorus was composed over 22 months by artist Ân and recognised as a Vietnamese record as the longest chorus performance.

Last year, exerpts of the chorus were also performed in Hà Tĩnh Province to celebrate the 250th anniversary of birth of Nguyễn Du, author of The Tale of Kiều.

The Tale of Kiều is an epic poem in Vietnamese and is widely regarded as the most significant work of Vietnamese literature. This is a 3,254-line classic verse novel written in lục bát (six-eight meter), a traditional verse form of Việt Nam’s poetry.

The work which was translated into some 20 different languages including French, Chinese, English, Russian and Japanese was recognized by the World Peace Council as one of the world’s celebrated cultural works in 1965.

Its author, Nguyễn Du was also recognised by UNESCO as a World Cultural Celebrity in 2003. –VNS