Following the resounding success of the “Toyota Concert Tour 2013” at Ho Chi Minh City Opera House on July 30, Japanese conductor Honna Tetsuji, who will conduct the show at Hanoi Opera House on Aug 2 and 3, expressed his pride and confidence in his Vietnamese artist team.

The one-hour concert, attended by artists from the Vietnam Symphony Orchestra and featuring four outstanding symphonies, won standing ovations and compliments from the audience.

The performances of the upbeat “Music for Symphony Orchestra” by revered Japanese composer Yasushi Akutagawa on the flute, string instruments and trumpet along with Tchaikovsky’s technically-challenging “Violin Concerto in D major, Op.35” with the solo performance by 15-year old violinist Do Phuong Nhi as well as “Overture 1812, Op.49”, one of the very few pieces to feature cannon roars and gunshots in the background, were hugely successful.

The concert also featured a famous folk song from Quang Ninh titled “Xe chi luon kim” (Thrusting threads into needles) transcribed by composer Tran Manh Hung.

“We came up with these four choices in order to showcase an outstanding Vietnamese folk music piece side by side with some of the world’s masterpieces. During the first years of the 16-year-old Toyota concert program, we opted for more popular semi-classical pieces. The works performed in later years get more difficult and classical and thus need more discerning ears,” explained Tetsuji, who has worked as the music director and main conductor of the Vietnam Symphony Orchestra.

The Japanese conductor has worked closely with the Vietnamese artists for the Toyota concerts over the past 12 years.

“As the program was designed to help enhance the Vietnam Symphony Orchestra artists’ skills, I’m positive that the Vietnamese artists’ abilities can now be compared with their peers in the region. I’m really proud to have many who are capable of working in the international arena in my team. Local audiences’ appreciation of classical music has also improved as well,” he stressed.

Tetsuji and his Vietnamese team are looking to join their longest-ever tour in seven cities in Japan, which will run from Sept 21 to Oct 1 and will feature Japanese pianist Kodama Momo and local artist Le Khanh as the show narrator, in a program to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Vietnam-Japan diplomatic ties.