HÀ NỘI — Acclaimed Russian artists—the world-renowned Beryozka Folk Dance Ensemble and two classical musicians—have upcoming performances in Hà Nội and HCM City.

The Beryozka Folk Dance Ensemble will perform at the Hà Nội Opera House on October 5 to kick off Russian Cultural Days in Việt Nam. The dancers will impress local audiences with dances that are a trademark of Russian culture. 

The ensemble was founded in 1948 by Russian choreographer Nadezhda Nadezhdina, who created the group’s famous style of footwork known as the floating step. The Ensemble has performed in 80 countries, bringing audiences its rich and unique repertoire which consists of round dances, comic dances, quadrilles and sketches of Russian life.

A critic for the French newspaper Le Figaro once wrote it is better to see one performance by Beryozka than it is to read more than 200 books about Russia. 

The Hà Nội show will highlight the round dances, characterised by a floating pace, poetic beauty and grace. The ensemble’s compositions have become classics in the female lyric dance repertoire, according to the current troupe leader Mira Koltsova.

The dancers will also perform at HCM City Municipal House on October 6.

That same day, the Việt Nam National Academy of Music will host a concert by pianist Andrey Diev and violinist Aleksey Koshvanets. Both of them have been named Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation. 

The concert will feature pianist Diev playing pieces by Tchaikovsky; Chopin and Sergei Rachmaninoff. The pianist was born to a musical family. He completed his post-graduate studies at Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire. He has toured with Russian and foreign orchestras and performed with famous musicians such as violinist Andrey Korsakov, cellist Alexander Knyazev and conductor Vladimir Ziva. 

Diev was selected as Musician of the Year by Music Review in 1999 and awarded the Moscow State prize in 2000. 

At the concert he will accompany violinist Koshvanets to perform pieces by Tchaikovsky and Polish composer  Henry Wieniawski. 

Having studied at the same conservatoire with Diev, Koshvanets won first prizes at the Bach Competition in Leipzig; the Carl Nielsen Competition in Denmark and the Bellini Competition in Italy. He has appeared as soloist with many orchestras including Staatskapelle of Dresden; Hanover Symphony Orchestra and Tokyo NHK Orchestra. Recently, he has begun working to apply technology to the creation of richer musical sound on recordings. 

All the shows will begin at 8pm. Entrance is by invitation only. — VNS