Revolution symphony at HCMC Opera House

The famous symphony by composer Vo Dang Tin called “Memories of Dong Khoi Revolution” will be performed at the Author Concert at HCMC Opera House in HCMC’s District 1 at 8p.m. November 9.

The symphony that Tin wrote in 1981 was inspired by his childhood memories of the 1960 revolution in Ben Tre Province.

In the second part of the concert, HCMC Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera will perform a ballet suite called “Sun in Our Heart”.

Vo Dang Tin graduated from the faculty of composition of the HCMC Conservatory of Music under the instruction of Professor-Composer Ca Le Thuan. Now director of HCMC Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera, he was the former artistic director of Bong Sen Theater of Traditional Music and Dance. In 2001, he was awarded the Gold medal for conducting at the National Arts Festival

Following that, in 2004, Tin received second prize for “Memories of Dong Khoi Revolution” by Vietnam Composers Association.

Tickets are on sale at the Opera House box office for VND200,000; VND150,000 and VND100,000.

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Old paintings touch a heart

Tezuka Katsuyoshi and his black cat in the Cat gallery - Photo: Thanh Hang

Tezuka Katsuyoshi was once famous for his Japanese-styled pho (beef noodle soup) on Dong Khoi Street in HCMC. But when his restaurant closed down and he opened an art gallery, the people around Katsuyoshi discovered he had another side.

Tezuka has spent 15 years living in Vietnam collecting Vietnamese works of art by the old painters, like Luong Xuan Nhi, Nguyen Sang or Nguyen Gia Tri. His four storey private gallery called Cat houses thousands of paintings and he attests to a strong affinity with them. “I must look at the paintings before I can go to bed. I must look at the paintings before I can go to sleep. I must look at the paintings before I can get drunk.”

What the gallery on Dong Khoi Street lacks in glitz it makes up for with the calm atmosphere of the East. The old paintings depict the slow pace of life of bygone days in Vietnam. They seem to communicate with us in a language lost to the rush of modern life. Asked why he feels such a deep affection with these old paintings, Tezuka answered that he was simply taken by their beauty. Love doesn’t need an explanation, he said.

Tezuka started his collection with no business aspirations – he kept his whole collection in a private storehouse and never showed it to anyone. He was satisfied to enjoy the paintings all alone, but that changed when he decided to open the gallery to the public in early 2010, as he was starting to feel old. None of the paintings in Cat gallery carries a price tag. Any customer who wants to buy one must agree on a price with Tezuka.

Sitting on a Vietnamese traditional bed, stroking a black cat and listening to the tropical storm outside, the old Japanese man rarely more than half-opened his eyes. Though he didn’t say a lot, he didn’t need to, to express the devotion he has to the paintings of Vietnam’s modern masters.

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