The National Vietnamese Symphonic Orchestra opened the opera season with an all sold out performance at the Hanoi Theatre. The programme included arias from Italian operas by Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gaetano Donizzetti and Giacomo Puccini, with the extraordinary participation of star soprano Angela Nisi. The young artist was much applauded by the packed Hanoi Opera House audience. In some pieces, Nisi sang with a Vietnamese baritone and tenor – a duo that had already been successfully experimented in preceding events. The concert followed a reception hosted by the Italian Ambassador in Vietnam, Cecilia Piccioni, in which the event was presented and a preview was given of the Embassy’s cultural programme with highlight events like the celebration for the birth of the Italian Republic on June 2nd and the 16th edition of Italian Language Week.
Ms Nisi has been on tour with Maestro Paolo Petrocelli of the Opera Theatre of Rome who, in talks with the Ministry of Culture and with the Vietnam National Opera & Ballet, explored new collaboration options with Italian opera institutions. The talks especially focused on the participation of Italian musicians in concerts held in Vietnam and on the training of staff employed in theatres. The Italian Department of the University of Hanoi also organised a lecture by Maestro Petrocelli, which was attended by over 100 students, on the role of music as a means to convey values and as an instrument of diplomacy.
