Meritorious Artist Hồng Vy will perform in a concert featuring arias from famous French operas at the HCM City Opera House on March 28. Photo courtesy of HBSO

HCM CITY The HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) will kick off the 2021 season with a night of arias from famous French operas at the city’s Opera House on March 28.

The concert will open with the overture to the five-act opera Mireille by French composer Charles Gounod. It premiered in 1864.

The work tells the love story of Mireille, a young woman from a good Provencal family and the poor farmer Vincent.

The concert will continue with the 13th movement titled The Swan from the 14-movement musical suite by French composer Camille Saint-Saens.

The Swan, the suite’s famous cello solo published in 1887, will be performed by Meritorious Artist and cellist Nguyễn Tấn Anh.

Meritorious Artist Hồng Vy will sing Depuis le Jour (Since the Day), a love song from the four-act opera Louise by French composer Gustave Charpentier which premiered in 1900.

The programme will also feature the aria Avant de quitter les lieux (Before I Leave This Town) from Gounod’s opera Faust, Bell Song from French composer Delibes’s Lamek, and Ah! Mes amis (Ah! My Friends) from Gaetano Donizetti’s La fille du régiment (The Daughter of the Regiment) .

The works will be sung by Đào Mác, Phạm Khánh Ngọc and Phạm Trang along with the HBSO chorus.

After the intermission, arias from Georges Bizet’s Carmen, including Habanera, Parle moi de ma mere (Tell about My Mother), Escamillo, and Je dis que rien ne m’epouvante (I Say that Nothing Frightens Me) will be sung.

The performance will present vocalists Phan Hồng Dịu, Phạm Duyên Huyên, Phạm Trang, Nguyễn Thu Hường, Trần Thành Nam and Võ Nguyễn Thành Tâm.

The HBSO chorus and orchestra will be featured.

The concert will begin at 8pm. The venue is at 7 Lam Sơn Square in District 1. Tickets can be purchased at the venue’s box office and www.ticketbox.vn. VNS