The ballet suite “Carmen” will be performed in the city on April 2 at the Saigon Opera House. (Photo: Courtesy of HBSO) Hanoi (VNA) – The Ho Chi Minh City Ballet SymphonyOrchestra and Opera (HBSO) on March 27 announced that the ballet suite “Carmen” will be performed in the city on April 2at the SaigonOpera House.
French composer Georges Bizet wrote Carmen in 1875, butas an opera. Then in 1967, Cuban choreographer Alberto Alonzo created aballet suite based in part on Bizet’s music, but more specifically on music by Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin.
Instead of interpreting the content of the originalopera, Shcerdrin famously referred to his bold work as more than anarrangement, rather “a creativemeeting of the minds”. In particular, the familiar tunes of the opera have been vividly transformedthrough the arrangement of strings and percussion.
The original ballet was not appreciated for its use ofdistinct styles to tell an already familiar story. It was not until more than50 years later that the ballet continued to be performed around the world.
People’s Artist Kim Quy brings the world-famous ballet tothe stage in Ho Chi Minh City with artist Nguyen Thu Trang playing the role ofCarmen, Ho Phi Diep as Don Jose, and Dang Minh Hien as the toreadorEscamillo.
Together with the ballet suite “Carmen” on the April 2show, two ballets - “Falling Angels” and “Dépaysement” - will be performed.
“Falling Angels” is a very short piece about thechallenges of being gay. Choreographed by Nguyen Phuc Hung, it will beperformed by Do Hoang Khang Ninh and Sung A Lung. Meanwhile, “Dépaysement” (disorientation) ischoreographed by Julien Guerin with music by famous composers Frederic Chopinand Ludwig van Beethoven./.
