Composer Nguyen Thien Dao will debut his work about the Kieu Tale at the Ha Noi Opera House tomorrow. The piece, entitled Kieu, Opera – Ballet, will include a poem recitation, folksong, opera and dance.

Dao, who now lives in France, is a household name in both Viet Nam and France. He graduated from the Conservatoire de Paris in 1968 and has received numerous international awards including the Andre Caplet Award, the Olivier Messiaen Award for Music Composition from the Foundation Erasmus de Holland and the Chevalier des Artist et de Lettres du Government Francais from the French government.

During his career, Dao composed more than 80 musical works that have been performed around the world and extensively in Europe.

Dao spoke to Culture Vulture about his work with the Viet Nam National Opera and Ballet (VNOB).

The Kieu Tale is an epic poem in Vietnamese literature. What can you say about your work?

The work will be my most traditional so far. It will be contemporary, using various art forms, including opera, ballet, poem recitation, orchestra, play, video screening and even rock music.

The 90-minute opera ballet, entitled Unexpected Destiny, is written for a soprano, two baritones, one bass, a choir and a symphony orchestra. The work will have two chapters, called Dream 1 and Dream 2.

The melodies were composed based on different genres of traditional music including southern tai tu (amateur music), tuong (classical opera), cheo (traditional drama) and poem recitation. However, the work is an academic music piece. I think an academic music work should come from traditional music.

Do you think the opera-ballet will be a new version of the Kieu Tale?

I am not ambitious to set the Kieu Tale to music because the Tale of Kieu is an epic poem in Vietnamese written by Nguyen Du (1766-1820), and is widely regarded as the most significant work of Vietnamese literature.

The poem is one of the most known. Thus, I used the poem to modernise my tale and create more characters.

In over 3,000 verses, written in luc bat (6/8) meter, the poem recounts the life, trials and tribulations of Thuy Kieu, a beautiful and talented young woman, who had to sacrifice herself to save her family. To save her father and younger brother from prison, she sold herself into marriage with a middle-aged man, not knowing that he was a pimp, and was forced into prostitution.

How was the work initiated and what difficulties did you face during composing?

Actually I was commissioned by former director of the VNOB Nguyen Cong Nhac in 2007. However, the project was delayed due to the director retiring. I was keen on the project because the Kieu Tale is very popular.

Before having an official discussion with the VNOB's new director about the project I did some research, collected documents and began the first draft. It took several years to complete.

I know many composers have doubts about why I included rock music in the work.

I use rock music featuring flesh-pots in the house of prostitution where Kieu was forced to work, thinking it would match. Whenever I encountered criticism about my work, I reviewed my music sheet as well as read the Kieu Tale again, deciding it needed no change.

I have to thank the VNOB and its artists who are rehearsing hard for the premiere.

It will debut at the Ha Noi Opera House, but not as the completed piece. This time it has singing, a play and a choir. Four soloists will play the four main role characters of Thuy Kieu, Nguyen Du, Tu Hai and Ho Ton Hien.

Two artists, one an opera singer and one a traditional singer will perform the role of Thuy Kieu. I will conduct the performance.

I hope that after its debut at the Opera House, the project will be completed. — VNS