Major event: Le Phi Phi conducts the Macedonian National Symphony Orchestra in the country's capital, Skopje. — VNS File Photo

HCM CITY (VNS) — The HCM City Ballet and Symphony Orchestra will play one of Beethoven's most famous compositions, Symphony No.5 in C minor, Op. 67, or the Symphony of Destiny, at the HCM City Opera House this Saturday.

It will be conducted by Le Phi Phi, who teaches and performs in the European nation of Macedonia.

Symphony No.5 is one of the best-known compositions in western classical music, and one of the most important works of the time.

Its four-note opening motif is described as "fate knocking on the door".

The concert will open with two works of impressionist and 20th century music.

The orchestra will perform a symphonic poem for orchestra, Prelude a l'Apres-midi d'un Faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun), by French composer Achille-Claude Debussy, considered the representative of the transition from impressionist to 20th century classical.

Boris Kraljevic and Le Ho Hai will play the other, a concerto for two pianos and orchestra in D Minor, FP. 61, by French composer and pianist Francis Poulenc.

Phi teaches at the Macedonian Centre of Opera and Ballet and is often a guest conductor at the Macedonian National Symphony Orchestra and Macedonian Ballet Theatre.

In 2005 he was branded "Pride of Viet Nam" by VietnamNet e-news, which makes annual lists of Vietnamese living abroad who have made significant contributions to Viet Nam.

Montenegrin national Kraljevic studied at the State Conservatory Tchaikovsky in Moscow, and has performed in numerous countries in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia.

He is a professor in demand for master classes at music conservatories world-wide and often sits on juries for international piano competitions.

Hai, head of the piano department at the HCM City Conservatory of Music, has won top prizes at the Saint-Maur National Conservatory of Music and the Versailles National Conservatory of Music, both in France.

Tickets are available at the venue. — VNS