Solo performance by violinist Bui Cong Duy at Opera House

Vietnam's leading violinist Bui Cong Duy

Duy, deputy rector for concert activities at the Vietnam National Academy of Music, will play the Violin Concerto in E Minor by German composer Mendelssohn

The composer began writing the work in 1838 and spent six years to complete it. It was first performed in 1845 by violinist Ferdinand David, Mendelssohn’s friend, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. 

The composition was well received and is considered one of the greatest violin concertos of all time.

The violinist will perform the concerto along with the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera's (HBSO) orchestra.

Duy, 38, who began playing violin at the age of four under the instruction of his father, professor and violinist Bui Cong Thanh, is a graduate of the Tchaikovsky National Music College in Moscow.

He has won top prizes at international competitions, including the first prize and gold medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in St Petersburg in 1997.

He has performed at concerts in many European and Asian countries, and at prestigious halls such as Berliner Symphoniker in Germany and Capella Concert Hall in Russia. 

Duy has been a featured soloist in many important events such as the Special Concert for the Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly in Hanoi in 2015, Special Concert for APEC 2017 in Vietnam, and welcoming concerts for the President of Russia and the President of the Republic of Korea.

He has served as a jury member at international competitions such as the VI International Violin Competition in Astana, Kazakhstan in 2016, and the 8th and 10th Tchaikovsky International Competitions for Young Musicians in Moscow in 2014 and in Astana in 2017.

He has been artistic director of the Vietnam Classical Players and executive director of the Vietnam Connection Music Festival since 2015.

The concert will also feature Die Weihe des Hauses op 124 overture (Consecration of the House) by Beethoven, and L’Arlesienne Suite No 1 and No 2 (The Woman from Arles) by Bizet.

Beethoven wrote his overture in 1822. The work was first played in the same year at the opening concert at the new Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna.

It was later performed as an opening work in the world premiere concert of Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 at Vienna’s Theater am Käntnertor in 1824.

Bizet composed L’Arlesienne in 1872 as incidental music for the play of the same name. He later arranged his work in a four-movement suite known as L’Arlesienne Suite No 1. 

In 1879, four years after Bizet's death, French composer Ernest Guiraud extracted and compiled Bizet’s orginial music into an orchestral work called L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2.

The performance will feature HBSO’s symphony orchestra.

Polish conductor, composer and violinist Wojciech Czepiel will conduct the concert.

Czepiel has worked as artistic director and conductor of many orchestras like the Warsaw Chamber Opera, Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra.

He has conducted more than 400 compositions with several orchestras in the world.

He received the "Gloria Artis" medal from the Polish Minister of Culture for his artistic achievements in 2012.

The concert will begin at 8pm at the Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square, in District 1. Tickets are available at the venue’s box office.