Concert «Ký ức Hà Nội» (Memories of Hanoi)

   Four of the most decorated female voices in Vietnamese pop share one stage for a single subject: Hanoi. For a visitor this is an unusually direct route into the songbook locals actually grew up on — the standards about autumn, old streets and milk-flower trees that turn up in every Hanoi playlist.

   In brief:

• — on stage: Thanh Lam, Mỹ Linh, Ngọc Anh, Hà Trần;
• — promoter: Thăng Long Show;
• — the programme includes «Nhớ mùa thu Hà Nội» and «Em ơi Hà Nội phố»;
• — eleven seating tiers, each named after a Hanoi landmark.

   Thanh Lam, Mỹ Linh and Hà Trần belong to the small group of singers the Vietnamese press calls divas — an unofficial label reserved for voices judged to have founded a school of their own. The promoters bill the evening as the first time all four of these artists have appeared together in a programme devoted to Hanoi.

   Both named songs are canon. «Nhớ mùa thu Hà Nội» was written by Trịnh Công Sơn in 1985; «Em ơi Hà Nội phố» is Phú Quang's setting of a Phan Vũ poem, first recorded in 1987.

   It suits listeners who want Vietnamese ballad rather than pop spectacle, and anyone curious how a city writes about itself. No English surtitles are advertised, but the repertoire is slow, melodic and easy to follow without the words.

   The eleven price tiers are named for Hanoi itself — Nếp Xưa, Tiếng Rao, Hương Cốm, Hoa Sữa, Thu Hà Nội, Ga Hàng Cỏ, Chợ Đồng Xuân, Hồ Tây, Cầu Long Biên, Hồ Gươm and, closest to the stage, Ký Ức. Price rises with proximity to the stage.

   The venue is a Soviet-era hall on Trần Hưng Đạo street, a short walk south of Hoàn Kiếm lake.

   Book tickets.

   If you only go to one Vietnamese-language concert while you are in Hanoi, a night built entirely around the city is a sound choice.