French conductor participates in the concert "What remains forever" for the first time

National Concert“What remains forever”2024 organized by VietNamNet Newspaper under the direction of the Ministry of Information and Communications will take place at 2:00 p.m. on National Day, September 2 at the Hanoi Opera House and will be broadcast live on VTV.

Sharing with the press on August 21, the Organizing Committee affirmed“Forever 2024”will be an "integration stage" with the participation of Vietnamese and international artists, telling musical stories of the past, present and future in a musical space that is both luxurious and has modern and traditional elements.

This year, for the first time, the program features the Sun Symphony Orchestra and French conductor Olivier Ochanine. He has excelled over nearly 120 conductors from 23 countries around the world to win the First Prize at the Antal Dorati International Conducting Competition in Budapest, Hungary (2015), the prestigious music award The American Prize (2015); and the Second Prize at the International Symphony Orchestra Conducting Competition in London (2015).

“This is a national concert celebrating Vietnam’s National Day, but it is conducted by a French conductor. That shows that Vietnamese people are extremely friendly and open, not holding back on impressions from the past,” said conductor Olivier Ochanine.

Even though he has lived in Vietnam for 7 years, Vietnamese is still a big challenge for Olivier Ochanine. He has to spend a lot of time researching the scores and meanings of the songs.

The conductor said he coordinated quite easily with musician Tran Manh Hung, the program's music director.

“Anh Hung is a talented composer and arranger. We work quite easily, we don’t need an interpreter to understand each other because we have the same approach to music,” said Olivier Ochanine.

According to musician Tran Manh Hung, the participation of the Sun Symphony Orchestra is a “breakthrough,” creating both excitement for participating artists but also pressure, because the Sun Symphony Orchestra has worked with world stars and has very strict professional requirements.

Mr. Hung said that the theme of the program is encapsulated in three phrases: Army, victory and Hanoi people. Therefore, the musician arranged the songs to create a narrative flow starting from when Uncle Ho read the Declaration of Independence, to when the army advanced to the Northwest, creating the Dien Bien Phu Victory and later liberating the Capital...

Works in the program include:"Long March"(Do Nhuan),“Song on the Mountain”(Nguyen Van Thuong),"Cannon pulling call"(Hoang Van),"Be Van Dan lives forever"(music: Huy Du, lyrics adapted from Trinh Duong's poem),“Through the Northwest - Dien Bien Phu Victory”(Nguyen Thanh-Do Nhuan),"Northwest Love Song"(music: Bui Duc Hanh, poetry: Cam Giang),“The Ballad of Ho Chi Minh”(composer: Ewan MacColl, Vietnamese lyrics: Phu An),"Marching under the flag"(Doan Nho),"Vietnam my homeland"(Do Nhuan).

National Concert“What remains forever”This year also introduces good songs about Hanoi such as:"Will return to the capital"(Huy Du),“Towards Hanoi”(Van Cao),"Hanoi People"(Nguyen Dinh Thi)...

The program has the participation of the Ao linh group, Meritorious Artist Vu Thang Loi, singers Trong Tan, Phuc Tiep, Nguyen Bao Yen (Sao Mai 2015 Champion, Chamber music), Kosmos Opera Choir...