Piano concert «Trăng Say»

   Mid-Autumn is not only for children. There is another version of the full-moon night: a small music room, a cup of tea, something sweet, and a piano sounding under the moon. If you would rather sit with a few people you care about than push through a crowded street, this evening was built for exactly that.

   The pianist is Nguyễn Hào Quang, born in 1998, who started at the keyboard at six. He graduated with distinction from the nine-year intermediate programme of the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory under Trần Thu Lê, joined its young talents squad and was admitted straight to the degree course. He then spent four years at the Conservatoire de Versailles Grand Parc in France with Professor Marc Vitantonio, and took second prize at the Concours International de Piano de Chatou «Cécile Edel-Latos».

   The programme moves through the moods of a moonlit night, setting Western repertoire beside melodies tied to Vietnamese memory:

• — Pagodes from Estampes and Clair de lune by Claude Debussy
• — The first movement of the Moonlight Sonata, Op. 27 No. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven
• — Chopin's Nocturne in C sharp minor, Op. posth., and «Notturno» from Grieg's Lyric Pieces Op. 54
• — «Thằng Cuội» by Lê Thương, two Preludes and «Vui hội đêm rằm» by Nguyễn Hữu Tuấn
• — «La foule» by Édith Piaf and «Voilà» by Barbara Pravi

   A break in the middle comes with tea, cake and wine, and every guest receives a gift from the organiser, kept secret until the night itself. The number of seats is deliberately capped to keep the feel of a private concert, so it is worth deciding early rather than on the day.

   The evening suits a full-moon date, a family that wants to sit together in the quiet, and anyone who loves the piano. A slow, warm moon season with real music in it, which is a rarer thing in this city than it sounds.