Folk Songs from Vietnam features singer Minh Do singing and Madame Thai Thi Lien playing Variations on the folk tunes by Thai Thi Lang, her elder sister (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - A special concertdedicated to pianist and pedagogue Thai Thi Lien, sole survivor among the sevenfounders of the Vietnam National Academy of Music (VNAM) will be held onNovember 23.
The Golden Century Concert willfeature performances by Madame Lien and several generations of her studentsincluding world famous pianist Dang Thai Son. Madame Lien turned 99 on August 4.
The concert is a tribute to Madame Lien, Dr LeAnh Tuan, VNAM Director said at a recent press conference.
"Madame Lien is not just one of theconservatory’s founders, she is also the teacher of many piano teachers andpianists. The concert will also be a milestone of the VNAM’s development."
Madame Lien was the only woman among the sevenmusicians to set up Vietnam’s first music school in 1956. She was also dean ofthe Piano Deparment until she retired in 1977. During 20 years of service, mostof it at a time of war, Madame Lien taught piano, wrote textbooks andcurriculums and her work was to train the first Vietnamese pianists.
Many of her students have become establishedpianists like Nguyen Huu Tuan, Hoang My, Phuong Chi and her son Dang Thai Son.Son became the first Asian to win first prize at the International Chopin PianoCompetition in Warsaw in 1980.
Born to an upper class family in Sai Gon, MadameLien began to play piano at 4 and studied with French pianist Armande Caronwhen she was 11. Caron’s teacher was Isidore Phillip who won the first pianoprize at Paris Conservatoire in 1883. Phillip’s teacher was Georges Mathias — astudent of Chopin.
Madame Thai Thi Lien rehearses at her home for the next week’s concert (Photo:VNA)An excellent student at 16, Madame Lien made herpublic debut at the Sai Gon City Hall. She studied with professor EmaDolezalova at the Prague Conservatoire and performed masterpieces by D.Scarlatti, Bach, Beethoven and B. Smetana for her graduation.
She then followed her husband home to Vietnam,to the revolutionary base in Viet Bac and worked with the Central Art Troupe.After the historic Dien Bien Phu victory in 1954, she joined a troupe that wentto Shanghai to record music pieces for airing on national radio for the handingover of Hanoi by the defeated French regime the same year.
Madame Lien’s career, which has spanned twocenturies, has been marked by numerous piano concerts, several of which arenational milestones. She was the first Vietnamese musician to perform pianorecitals in Hanoi in the late 1950s and to play it in concerts with Russianmusicians.
Her album Folk Songs from Vietnam,released by the Supraphon label in theformer Czechoslovakia with Vietnamese singer Minh Do was thefirst vinyl record cut in Vietnam.
It has been nearly 50 years since Madame Lien’s"farewell concert."
She will make an amazing comeback at the GoldenCentury Concert at VNAM’s Great Hall, playing No4 and No2 of Mazurkas byChopin. The composer’s pieces have been selected from her repertoire offavourites. The performance will mark a nostalgic return to her prime years inSài Gòn, where she first encountered Chopin’s music.
"My mother has played the pieces many timesand she chooses them because of their contrasting styles," said Tran ThanhBinh, Madame Lien’s elder son, who spoke at the press conference.
"Despite her old age she decided by herselfthe pieces she wanted to play at the concert. Our family helped her make thefinal choice."
Her performances will open the concert, whichhas two parts. The first part includes performances by her students, Professorand People’s Artist Tran Thu Ha, Meritorious Artist Tran Tuyet Minh, EmeritusTeacher Hoang Kim Dung and pianist Dan Thu Nga.
꧅ The second part will feature solo performancesby pianist Son, a present from the maestro to his mother.
Concert goers will also have a chance to see thetrailer of an unfinished documentary, The Cannon and The Flower, byEmmy-winning Story4 Studio.
"The Cannon and The Flower includessome scenes from Vietnamese documentary We Study Piano byThanh An. The filmmakers want to record the upcoming concert as the finalscenes of the documentary," Binh said.
ജ On this special occasion, VNAM will launch twobooks: Piano Curriculum by Madame Lien and Memories ofA Teacher by Madame Lien’s students from different generations.-VNA
