Artists Bao Quynh (right) and Ha Thao play the main roles of Thi Mau and Thi Kinh. (Photo: anninhthudo.vn)
Hanoi (VNA) –The Vienam Cheo Theatre will perform at a concert to mark the WorldReconciliation Day in Hanoi on September 9, said Director Meritorious ArtistThanh Ngoan.
The theatre will perform cheo (popular opera) Quan Am Thi Kinh (Goddessof Mercy) at the annual concert held by UNESCO, the University ofCalifornia Los Angeles Chair on Global Learning and Global CitizenshipEducation.
This year, the concert, themed "Music for Global Citizens" peforming classical music as part of the Wolrd Reconciliation Day festivities, will be held in Tokyo and Hanoi.
In Tokyo, cellist Tamas Varga and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra will performwith Japanese pianist Rika Miyatani and Waseda University’s Chorus onSeptember 6.
The first World Reconciliation Concert was held at Hanoi Opera House in2010.
Quan Am Thi Kinh will be performed by the theatre’s four generationsof cheo artists. Veteran artists Bao Quynh, Ha Thao, Tuan Tai and BaDung will play the main roles of the play.
"It is the most famous repertoire of classical cheo plays inVietnamese traditional art," Ngoan said. "Cheo is authenticallyVietnamese which is popular to international friends".
Set in the 10th century as a statement about the beauty of love, compassion andselflessness, Quan Am Thi Kinh is a story about the transcendentaljourney of a young, fair lady to her Buddhahood.
Cheo originated in the 10th century from folk music and dance, especially tronhai - simple mimetic skits. These skits showed the lives of ordinarypeople as well as royalty.
Over time, writers consolidated cheo short stories based on theseskits into longer and united plays.
The Hanoi show will be presented by Professor Carlos Torres Chair, UNESCOChair, Global Learning and Global Citizenship Education and Nguyen Anh Tuan,chair of the International Advisory Committee of UNESCO - UCLA Chair on GlobalCitizenship Education.
The Cheo theatre will also perform Quan Am Thi Kinh at the 2018reconciliation concert at Symphony Hall, Boston, in September.-VNA