National Cup semifinalists through

HCMC –Saturday’s victors, Thanh Hoa, Song Lam Nghe An, Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Navibank Saigon reached the semifinals of Vietnam’s 2011 National Football Cup.

Top Vietnamese League team, Song Lam Nghe An, beat first division team, Saigon Xuan Thanh, 4-2 in the central city of Vinh. Saigon Xuan Thanh started the game with Huynh Kesley, Lucas,  Nguyen Dinh Luat and Nguyen Thanh Trung in their line-up.

The HCMC-based team put pressure on Song Lam’s defensive line from the beginning resulting in a Huynh Kesley goal in the 10th minute with a penalty kick. Ngoc Anh leveled the score for Song Lam just two minutes later.

Striker Nguyen Duy Quang scored for the visitors in the 19th minute before Thierry leveled for the home side in the 62nd minute. Nguyen Quang Tinh and Kavin made sure Song Lam Nghe An advanced to the semifinals with two goals in the 67th and 68th minutes.     

Hoang Anh Gia Lai gained another ticket on the day after beating Khatoco Khanh Hoa 3-1 in the central coast city of Nha Trang. Nguyen Tang Tuan netted two goals for the visitors in the second and 30th minutes and Le Van Truong scored one goal in the 19th minute while Nguyen Manh Tu scored the only goal for the home side in the 43rd minute.

On the same day, Thanh Hoa secured the third ticket to the semifinals after eliminating XM The Vissai Ninh Binh 3-1 in a penalty shootout. The game was locked 1-1 at the end of official time. Dinh Hoang Max had opened for The Vissai Ninh Binh in the 50th minute and Trinh Quang Vinh then leveled for Thanh Hoa just seven minutes later.    

Navibank Saigon secured the last semifinal ticket as they beat Becamex Binh Duong 10-9 in a penalty shootout to decide the 1-1 draw. Hoang Anh Gia Lai will play Song Lam Nghe An on August 10 in Pleiku City, and Thanh Hoa will meet Navibank Saigon on the same day in HCMC.

The final will be held in the northern province of Ninh Binh on August 27.

Vietnam’s National Football Cup 2011 drew 27 teams from the country’s V-League and First Division, competing in a knock-out format.

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Vietnam symphony orchestra performs in US

Artists from the Vietnam National
Symphony Orchestra (VNNO) joined with others from Japan, the Republic
of Korea and the United States in a concert at Carnegie Hall in
New York on Jan. 8.

Themed “Peace”, the joint concert was the
first of its kind in New York, drawing diplomat officials and audiences
from the four countries.

With works by the world’s well-known
composers of Mikhail Glinka, Peter Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, the
artists reflected the aspiration of peace and friendship among nations.

Ambassador
Bui The Giang, Deputy Head of the Vietnamese permanent delegation to
the UN, said this is first time in New York a join music concert of
Vietnam, the RoK, Japan and the US has taken place.

“This is a
symbol of development of friendship and cooperation among nations and
delivers a message of peace and friendship to people all over the
world,” Ambassador Giang said before the performance.

The concert
under the baton of Japanese conductor Honna Tetsuji is performed by
artists from the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, the US Jerusalem
Symphony Orchestra and 16-year-old pianist Isadora Kim of the RoK./.

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Huge choir for Hanoi's largest concert

Vietnamese and International artists will perform Gustav Mahler's
Symphony No 8 in the country's largest ever concert on Oct. 23 in Hanoi.

The concert will be conducted by Honna Tetsuji with a
nearly 1,000-member choir and musicians from Vietnam , Japan ,
Germany , Norway , France , Sweden , Hungary and Malaysia .

Symphony No 8 was composed in 1906. It is a choral symphony in the true
sense of the word and is always performed on a large scale. The first
part sets to music the traditional 9th hymn Veni Creator Spiritus which
will be sung in Latin, while the lengthy second part is an ambitious
presentation of nearly the entire final scene from Goethe's poem Faust
II.

After premiering in 1901 with over 1,000 artists, the
name a Symphony of a Thousand soon became attached to the piece, but
this was never approved or sanctioned by the composer, said Michael
Mosworth, an independent researcher.

Two mixed choirs and a
large children's choir from the Vietnam National Symphony and Orchestra
(VNSO), the Vietnam National Academy of Music, Japanese choir,
Malaysian choir, and Hanoi International Choir will take part.

Meanwhile eight individual vocal soloists including Kurano Ranko
(soprano I), Ha Pham Thang Long (soprano II), Einarsson Anna (Alto II),
Nyari Zoltan (tenor), and Katzameier Otto (bass) will be accompanied by a
150-member orchestra.

Appearing on the stage will be the
largest ever orchestra in the country including VNSO's musicians; 13
musicians from Rouen Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, seven string
instrument and clarinet musicians from Norway, and five musicians from
Japan including one harpist.

The symphony is always
challenging for both performers and serious listeners. Even some Mahler
fans have difficulty coming to grips with it, according to Michael
Mosworth.

The one and a half hour-concert will take place
at the National Convention Centre at 8pm. Choir conductor will be
Graham Sutcliffe./.

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Chopin's birthday celebrated in Hanoi

The Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra will celebrate Frederick
Chopin's 200th birthday at the Hanoi Opera House tonight with a
performance of the Polish composer's Concerto for Piano No 1, Opus 11 by
soloist Luu Hong Quang, 20.

The concerto for piano
was written in 1830 and first performed in Warsaw on October 11 of
that year by the composer himself during one of his numerous "farewell"
concerts.

The concerto – in three movements – is scored for solo piano with flutes, oboes and clarinets.

Quang has proved himself an exceptional young pianist with a series of international prizes.

He became a close friend of his family's piano at age five and was
tutored by his dad, accordionist and jazz expert Luu Quang Minh of
Hanoi .

His talent developed at the Vietnam
National Academy of Music in 1996-2006, and drew attention from the
music circles within his native country and beyond.

The pianist's technique and sensibilities won him a special prize at the
Asia Chopin international piano competition, Tokyo, in 2006, and a
second prize at the Valtidone international piano competition, Italy,
in 2008.

Quang accepted a full scholarship at the
Australian International Conservatorium of Music in November 2006 where
his prowess as a pianist grew strongly under the tutelage of esteemed
professor Kyunghee Lee.

He has joined various ensembles in Vietnam, Japan, Australia, Italy, and Serbia.

Chopin (1810-49), one of the great masters of Romantic music, was born
in Zelazowa Wola, a village in the Duchy of Warsaw. A renowned
child-prodigy pianist and composer, he grew up in Warsaw and
completed his musical education there.

All of
Chopin's works involve the piano. They are technically demanding but
emphasise nuance and expressive depth. He invented the musical form
known as the instrumental ballad and made major innovations to the piano
sonata, mazurka and waltz.

Japanese conductor
Tetsuji Honna will run the show which will also feature Symphony No 6,
op 74 by Tchaikovsky in the second half.

The concert will kick off at 8pm tonight and tomorrow./.

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Vietnam spotlighted at Shanghai expo

“The Vietnam National Day” started at the Shanghai Expo 2010 on September 2.

Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh,
Vietnamese Ambassador Doan Manh Giao and Deputy Head of the China
National Tourism Administration Du Ri Li along with more than 200
representatives from offices, organisation and enterprises from China
and Vietnam attended the event.

Addressing the
opening ceremony, Minister Anh stressed that the event is of special
significance as it is being organised on the occasion of the 65 th
anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day (September 2), the Vietnam-China
Friendship Year and 60 th anniversary of Vietnam-China diplomatic ties.

2010 is an important year to Vietnam as the
country will celebrate the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi
while assuming the ASEAN Chair. Thus, the country wishes to work with
all neighbouring countries and other partners for peace, stability,
cooperation and development of Asia and the world, he said.

For his part, Du Ri Li spoke highly of Vietnam ’s contributions to
the Shanghai Expo. He said Vietnam and China are creating new
opportunities after 60 years of establishing diplomatic ties, adding
that cooperation in politics, economics, science-technology and culture
is developing fruitfully thanks to the special attention of the two
countries’ leaders, he said.

Within the framework of
the event, Vietnamese artists staged a special performance highlighting
the country’s traditional culture. Nearly 300 Vietnamese and Chinese
enterprises also attended a forum on investment cooperation jointly held
by Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Shanghai Trade
Promotion Committee./.

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