Camille Saint-Saens has a special relationship with Vietnam. He visited the country in 1895 and stayed three months. While on the island of Con Dao, which he considered a paradise, he wrote the second half of an incomplete opera, Fredegonde. This was revived by HBSO in 2017, with French musician Patrick Souillot on the podium.

The suite consists of 22 items, some extremely short. Bizet himself played the harmonium backstage in the premier.

Next comes Saint-Saens' Carnival of Animals, probably his best-known work. It is written for chamber orchestra and two pianos, and has 14 movements.

Its most famous movement features a solo cello and is called "the Swan". Each movement represents a different animal, such as a tortoise, an elephant, a kangaroo and a cuckoo.

In Saigon the two pianos will be played by Nguyen Thuy Yen and Pham Nguyen Anh Vu.

After the interval there are three more compositions, Faure's Pavane in F Sharp Minor, Saint-Saens' DanceMacabre and Ravel's Bolero.

Faure's short piece - it only lasts eight minutes - has proved immensely popular. A pavane is a stately Spanish court dance. Faure was persuaded to make versions including a chorus and as an item for dancers.

Saint-Saen's Dance Macabre is a sort of "dance of death" designed to be played at Halloween. It opens with the hour of twelve being played on a harp and closes with the cock's crow, symbolizing the dawn, played by an oboe. A xylophone is featured to represent the rattling of dead bones.
Finally comes Ravel's famous piece, Boléro.

The piece was hugely successful from the beginning. Toscanini conducted the US premier in 1929 to rapturous applause.

The concert will be conducted by Le Phi Phi. After graduating from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory he became the permanent conductor of the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra, while conducting all over Europe as well as back home in Vietnam.

The concert begins at 8pm.
Tickets for the event are priced as follows - 750.000 – 650.000 – 550.000 – 400.000 – 80.000VNĐ. The concert begins at 8pm.