Enthralling night of music and food at Vietnam National Day

Give it to the dynamic Vietnam Ambassador Nguyen Vu Tu to come up with creative ways to enhance Philippine –Vietnam relations. Last year, it was a fashion show featuring Vietnam and Philippine national dresses.

Last Tuesday’s celebration of Vietnam’s 67th National Day had a concert featuring Filipino and Vietnamese songs as well as classics and Broadway hits.

Violinist Bui Cong Duy opened the concert with spellbinding Libersfreud (Love’s Joy) by Friedrich “Fritz” Kreisler. After a Vietnamese piece, Nho Que (Missing my Home Village), he did Hatinggabi by Antonio Molina.

The good-looking Duy (Mai Mislang should have been there) studied at the Music Conservatories of Ho Chi Minh, Glinka, and Tchaikovsky in Moscow. He was first prize winner in the 1997 Tchaikovsky International Music Competition for Young Musicians in St. Petersburg.

Raul Sunico, president of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and worked closely with Amb. Vu Tu in preparing the program and assembling the talents, performed the pièce de résistance, Liszt’s Funerailles.

Vietnamese pop artist Duc Tuan held his own with Filipina sopranos Rachelle Gerodias and Joanna Ampil. A specially-assembled orchestra conducted by Japanese Tetsuji Honna, who is music adviser and conductor of the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, further enriched the vocal performances.

Their rendition of “The Impossible Dream” was mesmerizing.

On the side, Gemma Cruz, launched the updated edition of “Hanoi Diary”, her account of her revolutionary visit to North Vietnam in 1968 during the United States aggression against Vietnam.

And of course, there was Vietnamese cuisine. The best spring rolls I ever tasted.