The audience of about 20 sit in rapt silence, their eyes glued to thefemale soloist. The strains of traditional ca tru (chamber) musicreverberate around the dimly lit prayer hall in Quan De Temple. Only thestage is illuminated, which at the beginning of the performance isseparated from the audience by a bamboo curtain. After the first song,the curtain is raised.
"This highly refined music does notreveal its secrets immediately, but grows on you, taking one graduallyinto a different world, away from the hustle and bustle (and inescapablevehicular horns) of Old Quarter traffic," wrote Chang Tou Liang fromSingapore.
"It is a magical feeling that is difficult todescribe, one that goes beyond the superficiality and surface glitz ofmany more popular art forms (the water puppets come to mind here)," headded.
Traditional chamber music is performed every Sept.24 night in the temple on Hang Buom street . They do not usemicrophones, and the audience is usually dominated by foreigners, whopays 10 USD each for a ticket.
"The secret to attractingtourists to the sounds is the light," said singer Pham Thi Hue. "If welit the whole room, the audience would immediately be distracted fromthe performers and the instruments."
Some touristscomplain that it is too dark to take photos but most of them understandthat the dimly lit room helps one to focus on the singing and the music,Hue said.
The fact that we don't use microphones or aspeaker system means they have to concentrate that much harder on themelodies and the words, she added.
The show lasts just anhour, during which the artists also explain to the audience inVietnamese and English the meaning of the music and the names of theinstruments.
"I have a lot of questions on the content ofthe songs," said Joachim Nguyen, an overseas Vietnamese from France ."Though I can speak Vietnamese, I cannot understand all the songs asthey often use a strange type of Vietnamese."
Whilelistening to the artists' explanation of the music, members of theaudience are invited to drink Vietnamese green tea and eat sweetenedbean cakes.
In addition to the Sept. 24 performance at Quan De Temple, the musicians also perform at an ancient house at 87 Ma May street.
Musicians from the Hanoi Chamber Music Club at Kim Ngan Temple on Hang Bac street also perform every Sunday.
Nguyen Thu Thuy, an official from the Hanoi Old Quarter ManagementBoard, said linking traditional arts with tourism had proved verypopular with visitors.
"Though the shows in the OldQuarter have been run for more than a year, most of our guests areindependent travellers not members of a tour group," Hue said. "Wehave signed contracts with some tourism companies, including the VietnamTourism and Hanoi Tourism companies. Yet the number of guests takingpackage tours coming to our shows is still limited."
Travel agents are not particularly interested in ca tru compared withsay water puppetry, she said. Maybe because the language is far moreimportant than the music in ca tru, and many people can't understand theworlds.
Thuy said she planned to promote the art form in the local media and hold some more cultural activities in the Old Quarter.
In addition to the performances in the Old Quarter, ca tru fans canalso attend shows every Sept. 24 night and in the morning of the lastSunday of each month at Bich Cau Dao Quan, 14 Cat Linh street , andbetween 9am and 10am on the first Sunday of each month at the Museumof Ethnology , Nguyen Van Huyen street . /.
"This highly refined music does notreveal its secrets immediately, but grows on you, taking one graduallyinto a different world, away from the hustle and bustle (and inescapablevehicular horns) of Old Quarter traffic," wrote Chang Tou Liang fromSingapore.
"It is a magical feeling that is difficult todescribe, one that goes beyond the superficiality and surface glitz ofmany more popular art forms (the water puppets come to mind here)," headded.
Traditional chamber music is performed every Sept.24 night in the temple on Hang Buom street . They do not usemicrophones, and the audience is usually dominated by foreigners, whopays 10 USD each for a ticket.
"The secret to attractingtourists to the sounds is the light," said singer Pham Thi Hue. "If welit the whole room, the audience would immediately be distracted fromthe performers and the instruments."
Some touristscomplain that it is too dark to take photos but most of them understandthat the dimly lit room helps one to focus on the singing and the music,Hue said.
The fact that we don't use microphones or aspeaker system means they have to concentrate that much harder on themelodies and the words, she added.
The show lasts just anhour, during which the artists also explain to the audience inVietnamese and English the meaning of the music and the names of theinstruments.
"I have a lot of questions on the content ofthe songs," said Joachim Nguyen, an overseas Vietnamese from France ."Though I can speak Vietnamese, I cannot understand all the songs asthey often use a strange type of Vietnamese."
Whilelistening to the artists' explanation of the music, members of theaudience are invited to drink Vietnamese green tea and eat sweetenedbean cakes.
In addition to the Sept. 24 performance at Quan De Temple, the musicians also perform at an ancient house at 87 Ma May street.
Musicians from the Hanoi Chamber Music Club at Kim Ngan Temple on Hang Bac street also perform every Sunday.
Nguyen Thu Thuy, an official from the Hanoi Old Quarter ManagementBoard, said linking traditional arts with tourism had proved verypopular with visitors.
"Though the shows in the OldQuarter have been run for more than a year, most of our guests areindependent travellers not members of a tour group," Hue said. "Wehave signed contracts with some tourism companies, including the VietnamTourism and Hanoi Tourism companies. Yet the number of guests takingpackage tours coming to our shows is still limited."
Travel agents are not particularly interested in ca tru compared withsay water puppetry, she said. Maybe because the language is far moreimportant than the music in ca tru, and many people can't understand theworlds.
Thuy said she planned to promote the art form in the local media and hold some more cultural activities in the Old Quarter.
In addition to the performances in the Old Quarter, ca tru fans canalso attend shows every Sept. 24 night and in the morning of the lastSunday of each month at Bich Cau Dao Quan, 14 Cat Linh street , andbetween 9am and 10am on the first Sunday of each month at the Museumof Ethnology , Nguyen Van Huyen street . /.
