3:32:08 PM | 10/29/2024
Vietnam will be the starting point for the first Asian tour of the Brazilian pianist Cristian Budu, who will perform the concert entitled “Saudades do Brasil” (Missing Brazil) at the Opera Ho Guom on October 30th alongside the Sun Symphony Orchestra. This is a cultural event organized by the Embassy of Brazil in Hanoi in partnership with Sun Group and the Opera Ho Guom.
Born in Brazil to Romanian parents, Cristian Budu rose to stardom in 2013, when he became the grand winner of the Clara Haskil international competition in Switzerland. In addition to winning the main prize, the Brazilian pianist was also awarded prizes given by the public and young critics.
Cristian Budu's name has also appeared in the internationally renowned magazine Gramophone, specialized in classical music, which included him in the select list of the “Top 50 Greatest Chopin Recordings”, which brings together only 50 of the most anthological interpretations of Chopin in all of history. Writing about Budu, the magazine described him as "a stunningly original pianist with musical insight and maturity comparable to colleagues twice his age". His latest solo CD received the “Editor’s Choice” in England and the “5-Diapasons” in France, and was also included in the latest update of two of the most prestigious lists by Gramophone: “Top 10 Recent Beethoven Recordings”, and “Top 10 Chopin Recordings”. For all these reasons, Cristian Budu is considered the greatest Brazilian pianist of the last four decades. Throughout his career, he has performed as a soloist in concerts held in the United States, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, France, Romania, the Netherlands, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay and, of course, Brazil.
In Brazil, Cristian Budu heads several musical projects and social initiatives with the aim of democratizing access to classical music. With this spirit, he both performs concerts in popular venues at affordable prices so that more people can attend, and also often plays in people's homes in order to bring them closer to classical music, leaving aside the formality that surrounds the genre.
The concert in Hanoi on October 30th will be the pianist's first in Asia. The program will include pieces by the important Brazilian composers Camargo Guarnieri and Heitor Villa-Lobos, as well as by French composer Darius Milhaud, a nod to the conductor and founding musical director of the Sun Symphony Orchestra, Olivier Ochanine, who is also French.
The “Saudades do Brasil” concert was made possible by the Embassy of Brazil in Hanoi through the Brazilian government’s cultural promotion program. The event is part of the calendar of celebrations for the 35th anniversary of bilateral relations between Brazil and Vietnam, which will be completed in 2024. As part of this celebration, a Bossa Nova concert was performed last September in Hanoi and, in April, friendly football matches were held in Danang and Hanoi, featuring former members of the Brazilian national football team that won the fourth World Cup title in 1994.
Source: Vietnam Business Forum