Pop star Hoạ My. She began her professional career before graduating from the Sai Gon National Music and Theatre College in 1974. (Photo courtesy of the producer)

HCM CITY— A new album featuring four veteran female singers who were famous in the 1960s and 1980s and played a role in the industry’s development has been released on nhaccuatui, a digital music, podcast and video streaming service.

The work, Thương Quá Việt Nam (Beloved Việt Nam), features Phương Dung, Giao Linh, Hoạ Mi and Trang Mỹ Dung. 

It is part of a series of albums featuring Vietnamese songs about country, love and women by veteran musicians of different periods. 

The singers perfom love songs by well-known composers such as Trúc Phương, Minh Kỳ, Hoài Linh and Lê Dinh, who has more than 40 years of experience in music.

The album’s producer Ân Thiên Vĩ spent several hours daily working with his staff in the studio to remix and record the songs with a new style.

“The theme of Thương Quá Việt Nam is ‘Magic Show—Four Music Female Stars in the Past and Today’. All nine songs in the album showcase love stories and women with quality music by four pop stars who were pioneers in the country’s contemporary music,” said Vĩ, who is also a singer.

He said he hopes his production will increase the popularity of Vietnamese music. 

“I first enjoyed the voice of singer Phương Dung in 1970 when I was a girl. I’m happy to listen her in the album Thương Quá Việt Nam. Her voice  is still fresh after several decades," said Nguyễn Thị Toàn, a Vietnamese-American fan. 

Vietnamese-Australian singer Phương Dung (right) performs on the album Thương Quá Việt Nam (Beloved Việt Nam), a production about love and women that features veteran female singers in the 1960s and 80s. The album is being released on nhaccuatui, a digital music, podcast and video streaming service.  Photo courtesy of the producer

 Vietnamese-Australian singer Phương Dung began her career in 1962 in Sài Gòn (now HCM City) when she was 17. Her first song, Nỗi Buồn Gác Trọ (Nostalgic), a bolero work by composer Mạnh Phát and Hoài Linh, was a hit phenomenon in the industry.

She has released more than 300 albums and CDs, mostly in bolero and folk music, produced by Vietnamese studios and agencies in Australia, France and the US. 

She has also performed in 13 TV shows produced by the Việt Nam Television and Hồ Chí Minh City Television.

In Thương Quá Việt Nam, Dung performs Cô Lái Đò (Female Rower) and Buồn Trong Kỷ Niệm (Sad Memory), composed by Nguyễn Đình Phúc and Trúc Phương, both of which were famous before 1975.

“Vietnamese music runs through my blood and soul,” said the 75-year-old Dung.— VNS