Published:  00:00 Tuesday - January 19, 2010

90 German artists from the Berlin Philharmonic and 4 world famous singers will join with the Vietnam National Symphony and Orchestra (VNSO) to perform at the Hanoi Opera House on January 23-24.

The concert is part of cultural events marking the German Year in Vietnam-2010 and 35 years of diplomatic relation between the two countries.

Artists of the two countries will play Beethoven’s Symphony No.9, acknowledge as one of the best works of the Western classical repertoire and one of the greatest artistic achievements in human history.

The symphony was the first example of a major composer using voices in a symphony. The words, sung during the final movement by four vocal soloists and a chorus, were taken from the Ode an die Freude (Ode to Joy), a poem written by Friedrich Schiller in 1785 and revised in 1803.

The four famous singers include German basso Tareq Nazmi, mezzo-soprano Carolin Masur, soprano Susanne Bernhard and Australian-born tenor Michael Smallwood.

The VNSO and Berlin Philharmonic will play under the baton of Jones Alber, one of the Germany’s leading conductors. He has conducted more than 500 concerts featuring musical masterpieces by Mozart, Puccini and Strauss.