Haiphong Opera House (Vietnamese ''Nhà hát lớn Hải Phòng'') is a French-built neoclassical opera house on Opera Square (''Quảng trường Nhà hát lớn'') in

Hai Phong Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta. Haiphong wa ...

, which was opened in 1912.

History

The first performance of opera in Haiphong was held by a travelling troupe in the Hotel des Colonies in 1888. Later 1895-1897 a touring French opera company in Indochina, featuring

Alexandra David-Néel Alexandra David-Néel (born Louise Eugénie Alexandrine Marie David; 24 October 1868 – 8 September 1969) was a Belgian–French explorer, spiritualist, Buddhist, anarchist, opera singer, and writer. She is most known for her 1924 visit to Lh ...

as prima donna toured Haiphong with

La Traviata ''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...

and

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

. Another touring company, while waiting for the 1902 Exposition of Hanoi to open, came to Haiphong, including

Blanche Arral Blanche Arral (10 October 1864 – 3 March 1945) was a Belgian coloratura soprano. Born Clara Lardinois in Liège, Belgium, the youngest of 17 children, she studied under Mathilde Marchesi, Mathilde Graumann Marchesi in Paris. She debuted in a sm ...

. The French colonial authorities cleared an old market in the square to make way for the Opera House which was in construction from 1904 to 1912. The French architect deliberately copied the designs and materials of the

Palais Garnier The Palais Garnier (, Garnier Palace), also known as Opéra Garnier (, Garnier Opera), is a 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from ...

in Paris. When it opened performances were put on by touring singers, alternating with performances at the

Hanoi Opera House The Hanoi Opera House (french: Opéra de Hanoï), or the Grand Opera House ( vi, Nhà hát lớn Hà Nội, french: Grand Opéra) is an opera house in central Hanoi, Vietnam. It was erected by the French colonial administration between 1901 and 191 ...

On August 23, 1945 the Opera House was venue for the first public meeting of the

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...

in Haiphong, followed by a march and occupation of key buildings not guarded by the Japanese. The Opera House was shortly afterwards scene one of the first conflicts of the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

. On 20 November 1946, during the first days of the French attack on Hai Phong, 39 Viet Minh soldiers and Opera staff with antique muskets led by platoon commander Đặng Kim Nở fought French troops from the Opera House for three days and nights, killing 50 French soldiers before they were overcome.Insight Guides Vietnam - Page 179 2002 "During the first days of the 1946 French attack, actors with antique muskets held off French troops here." The Viet Minh evacuated the city on the 23 November under bombardment. Under French rule the Opera House had primarily been for the colonial population. With the departure of the French population the Opera House turned more to local genres including classical Sino-Vietnamese hát tuồng opera, classical Vietnamese hát chèo drama, and the popular

cải lương ''Tuồng cải lương'' (, Hán-Nôm: 從改良) often referred to as cải lương (Chữ Hán: 改良), roughly "reformed theater") is a form of modern folk opera in Vietnam. It blends southern Vietnamese folk songs, classical music, '' hát ...

folk musical, as well as Socialist theatre and musical. The Opera House also holds concerts of

Vietnamese music Traditional Vietnamese music encompasses a large umbrella of Vietnamese music from antiquity to present times, and can also encompass multiple groups, such as those from Vietnam's ethnic minority tribes. History Traditional Vietnamese music has ...

, both classical

ca trù ''Ca trù'' (, , "tally card songs"), also known as hát cô đầu or hát nói, is a Vietnamese genre of musical storytelling performed by a featuring female vocalist, with origins in northern Vietnam. For much of its history, it was associated ...

, and neotraditional Vietnamese-Western (nhạc dân tộc cải biên, "revised national music"), folk genres such as hát chầu văn ("hát văn") and

quan họ ''Quan họ'' () singing is a Vietnamese folk music style characterized both by its antiphonal nature, with alternating groups of female and male singers issuing musical challenges and responses. Quan họ is common in rituals and festivals, and a ...

, and popular songs.

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Haiphong Opera houses in Vietnam Music venues completed in 1912 Theatres completed in 1912 1912 establishments in Vietnam