violinist Hoàng Rob

HÀ NỘI — After more than two years since he released Hừng Đông (Dawn) in late 2016, violinist Hoàng Rob – a pioneer in playing electrical violin in Việt Nam – has recently introduced to music lovers his latest album, Trò Chuyện (The Chat).

Unlike his previous work, which features only harmonious violin melodies, The Chat, features six songs performed by famous Vietnamese singers with Hoàng Rob’s on violin.

"On my music journey, I’m lucky to meet and work with several artists that I’ve admired,” the violinist said, explaining the album’s title.

“This album refers to the chat between me and those artists through music”.

The singers include diva Hà Trần, ca trù (ritual singing) singer Kiều Anh, “The Prince of Love Songs” – Lê Hiếu, and winner of The Voice Vietnam 2015, Đức Phúc. And two other favourite overseas Vietnamese singers Thu Phương and Quang Dũng are also among the artists performing.

According to Rob, his two-year break helped develop his creativity and produce more work.

“This album is the first of the three-album collection that I have worked on over the past two years,” he said.

The violinist said his accompaniment is to harmonise with the singers' voice while not effecting the personal style of each singer.

However, three of six artists live in the US, making communication a little tricky, he said.

“Việt Nam is about 12 hours ahead of the US, so every night, I had to awake almost the whole night to discuss with them on every single detail,” the violinist said.   

While the recording with other singers didn’t take much time, the one with singer Quang Dũng required lots.

“As Tặng (To Give) is a song requiring a lot of high singing technique to perform, singer Dũng and me had to spend eight hours to record it – the longest I’ve ever spent in studio,” Rob said.

The album Trò Chuyện has been presented in three formats – USB, CD, and LP – aiming to satisfy the needs of a variety of music lovers.

“While USB can be used while you travel in your car, the CD is for the mass of audience, and the LP is for audiophiles,” the violinist said.

Nguyễn Mỹ Hạnh, a Hanoian audiophile, said she was very excited with the release of the new LP.

“Unlike the guitar which has been played widely, violin seems much more choosy, for both players and listeners. However, with the release of this LP, audiophiles will be happy to welcome a product by a Vietnamese artist,” she said.   

Before being named ‘New Artist of the Year’ at the Devotion Awards in 2017, Hoàng Rob earned fame with music videos filmed at some of Việt Nam’s most famous tourist spots. — VNS