Concert «Vietnam Airlines Classic – Hanoi Concert 2026»

   Two nights of orchestral music in the centre of the capital, with one of the world's leading symphony orchestras on stage and a programme built specifically for this hall. The orchestra played in Hanoi in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2025; this is its fifth visit.

   On the podium is Sir Antonio Pappano, chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. He led the Royal Opera House for 22 years and was knighted in 2012 for his contribution to music worldwide. The concert sits within the «Chạm thu Hà Nội» series, presented by Vietnam Airlines, the city of Hanoi and Nhà hát Hồ Gươm.

   After the Vietnamese national anthem, the evening opens with the shimmering, richly coloured «The Enchanted Lake» by Anatoly Lyadov. The orchestra then performs Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's «Sinfonia Concertante», and after the interval comes the dramatic charge of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's «Symphony No. 5», with the Polonaise from «Eugene Onegin» to finish. Three works, three distinct temperaments, carrying the audience through a deliberately uneven emotional arc.

   Worth knowing about this return:

• — soloists Benjamin Marquise Gilmore (violin) and Eivind Ringstad (viola) join the orchestra for the «Sinfonia Concertante»
• — the orchestra was founded in 1904 and carries over 120 years of history
• — wider audiences also know it from film scores including Star Wars and Harry Potter
• — it has played in Hanoi in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2025

   It suits regular classical listeners, newcomers to orchestral repertoire, and visitors after an autumn evening that feels distinctly of this city. Lê Hồng Hà, general director of Vietnam Airlines and speaking for the organisers, says the company intends to keep the series running as an annual international fixture.

   If you have been waiting for orchestral music at full international standard in the middle of Hanoi, this is the closest chance of the season.