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In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of French composer, Claude Debussy, a small music center, named Inspirato, in the heart of HCMC’s District 2, launched a French music concert last Saturday evening.
The modern building, hidden behind small street stalls, has a large open gallery on its ground level which presently showcases a painting exhibition by French Artist, Zan Doan. The small concert hall is on the first level and can accommodate an audience of about 65.
Our program comprised pieces by Francois Couperin (1668-1733) which were played with accomplished agility by Igor Chystokletov on a grand piano. This was followed by a sonata for clarinet and piano by C. Saint-Saens (clarinet Roger Jones and Igor Chystokletov).
The absolute highlight of the evening for me were pieces played by Cara Stevens, a very talented young musician, accompanied by Igor, she had the audience enthralled with her skilful and lively interpretation of Massenet’s ‘Meditation from Opera Thais’ followed by Debussy’s ‘Prelude la fille aux cheveux de lin (the girl with the flaxen hair). What a young star and I hope we will see more of her performances in upcoming concerts.
Debussy’s music was explored further by young pianists Vo Ngoc Dieu Tinh, Pham Hong Anh and Pham Dieu Thao. We heard ‘Prelude from Suite Bergamasque’, ‘Reverie’ and the four pieces from the Petite Suite.
A very inspiring evening and there is more to come with a piano concert Saturday, August 25 with Tra Nguyen, arguably one of the best Vietnamese pianists, playing works from Mozart and Schubert.
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