I'm a flower: Ballet and contemporary dance pieces will be performed in the Autumn Melody Concert in HCM City this weekend. —VNS Photo Duc Ngoc

HCM CITY — A gala performance from the HCM City Ballet and Symphony Orchestra , the annual Autumn Melody concert, will be staged at the HCM City Opera House this weekend.

The concert will include three evening performances featuring dozens of singers, musicians and dancers who will perform popular foreign and Vietnamese pieces.

Friday's opening show will feature Dido and Aeneas, a famous opera by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate.

Sopranos Cho Hae-ryong and Nguyen Thi Thanh Nga, and tenor Pham Trang will sing with the support of the chorus and ballet.

Dido and Aeneas recounts the love story of Dido, queen of Carthage (played by Cho), and the Trojan hero Aeneas (played by Trang), and her despair at his abandonment of her.

Guest conductor, Norwegian Lars notto Birkeland, and his colleagues, harpsichordist Christian Kjos and cellist Jaroslav Havel, will participate in the performance.

Dancers Nguyen Thu Trang, Ho Phi Diep, Nguyen Luong Hoa, Dao Van Thien and Pham The Chung will be featured during Saturday's show.

The one-act ballet Carmen Suite written in 1967 by Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin, choreographed by Alberto Alonso.

Veteran choreographer Kim Quy worked several hours every day to help the dancers perfect their performance.

Modern Ballet Dream Puzzles, a contemporary dance choreographed by young talents Phuc Hung and Phuc Hai, will continue the night.

The work highlights music by Vu Viet Anh and Nguyen Manh Duy Linh, two of the orchestra's youngest talents.

Pieces by composers Philip Glass, Michael Nyman and Max Richter will also be featured.

During Sunday's show, chamber music by Vietnamese composers Nguyen Van Thuong and Hoang Cuong will be featured. Thuong's Tro Ve Dat Me (Return to the Motherland) will open the night.

Violinist Hoang Linh Chi and her husband, Spanish oboeist Pau Rodriguez, will perform together in Concerto for Violin, Oboe and String Orchestra. The work combines Vietnamese and Spanish tastes by her father, composer - music professor Cuong, former director of the HCM City Music Conservatory.

The evening will also feature excerpts from the soundtracks of the films Titanic, Blue Tango, the Godfather, James Bond and The Pirates of the Caribbean.

The orchestra invited special guests from Japan, South Korea and France to participate in the performance.

The concerts begin at 8pm on August 17, 18 and 19 at the HCM City Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square, District 1. Tickets are VND250,000 to 500,000 and are available at the theatre's box office. — VNS