Famous singer of "Comedy folk song" Van Huong passed away

Famous singer Van Huong

According to his family, artist Van Huong (real name Nguyen Van Huong), born in 1934 in My Thanh, Long Thanh My, Thu Duc (now Long Thanh My ward, Thu Duc city, Ho Chi Minh city) breathed his last at 7:00 p.m. on December 7, at the age of 90.

He was hospitalized for treatment of a cerebral hemorrhage more than 10 days ago and died at Gia Dinh People's Hospital.

He suffered from old age and was cared for by his children at home all this time.

At the age of 15, artist Van Huong sold melon seeds at the Nguyen Van Hao opera theater (now the Cong Nhan theater on Tran Hung Dao street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City).

Like many artists of that time, from an audience with a talent for singing, he entered the cai luong stage with the dream of becoming a leading actor.

That was the period when Le Lieu restaurant located near Thi Nghe bridge (1960s-1970s) was established, becoming a meeting place for lovers of traditional music in Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City at that time.

The famous singer Van Huong's comedy album was once a bestseller in record companies.

Artist Van Huong came to this restaurant to sing vọng cổ on stage. Artist Le Lieu discovered that the young man selling melon seeds sang so well that she bragged to many friends at the restaurant.

By chance, Mr. Bay Cao - the director of Hoa Sen theater troupe - came to see and listen to Van Huong sing. He liked it so much that he called many other professional artists to come and listen and give comments, including composer Vien Chau.

According to the confession of composer Vien Chau when he was alive, it was the viewpoint "why can vọng cổ songs make the audience cry but not make them laugh" that composer Vien Chau created the vọng cổ comedy genre so that the way of singing and the content of the song satirize bad habits and vices.

Famous singer Van Huong sings humorous vọng cổ at the restaurant he owns in District 9, Thu Duc.

From that opportunity, composer Vien Chau composed humorous vọng cổ, starting this trend in the early 1960s. The first person to perform the song "Tu Ech di Sai Gon" was artist Van Huong.

He became famous like a kite in the wind. In 1972, he collaborated with the "king" of Tao Dan poetry recitation - the late artist Thanh Hai to establish his own singing group called "Thanh Hai - Van Huong".

After the country's reunification, he worked with the Thong Nhat Collective Opera Troupe (Tay Ninh), then with the Song Chung Opera Troupe (Phuoc Chung).

In 1987, due to old age, he left the stage and opened the Van Huong amateur music bar in Long Thanh My ward, Thu Duc.

Not long ago, the program "Mai Vang Nhan Ai" organized by Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper with the support of Nam A Commercial Joint Stock Bank visited famous singer Van Huong.

Mrs. Sau Lien's Vietnamese record company is where many humorous vọng cổ records performed by artist Van Huong are stored.

After the success of recording 230 vọng cổ comedies in the 1960-1970 period, seeing that the market favored this style, a number of other composers began to compose. Artist Văn Hường himself recorded about 200 more songs by many other composers.

That was the period when audiences liked to listen to humorous vọng cổ songs because it followed the trend of conveying optimism, condemning bad and negative things through each vọng cổ verse.

What is more valuable is that from that foundation, many artists have performed comedy vọng cổ, choosing this genre as their forte such as: People's Artist Giang Chau, Meritorious Artist Phu Quy, Clown artists He Sa, Van Chi My, Linh Trung, Dung Nhi...

Artist Van Huong always hopes that there will be a sponsor to compile a collection of "Comedy Vong Co" and the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Association will organize a discussion and workshop to mark the 75th anniversary of the birth and existence of this genre, thereby promoting young composers to write and love comedy Vong Co.

Then organize a separate contest for lovers of humorous vọng cổ and promote it, continuing to spread this genre.

Famous singer Van Huong

The period of becoming famous urged him to practice composing. That was the period on the stage of the Kim Chung Opera Troupe and later formed a troupe with artist Thanh Hai. He composed many traditional comedy songs and comedy opera scripts.

During his artistic career, he performed many famous humorous vọng cổ songs such as: "Three fortune tellers", "Squid dog with fox head", "What is life?", "Going to sing cải lương", "Retired drunk knight", "Tell a stage play", "Country music", "Being a king is very sad", "Rapport tao quan", "Honda accident", "Because I am of the year of the Ox", "Cao Cao burns his beard", "Money, silver money", "Tu Ech goes to the market", "I go to get a haircut", "I lose the tail number", "Tu Ech goes to the fair", "Tu Ech", "Ba Rau goes to see the grand concert", "Tu do tuong", "Tu Ech fights Van Huong", "Van Huong goes to Suzuki", "Van Huong is last in line to heaven", "Van Huong loves lottery numbers", "Van Huong has five wives", "My wife goes to a fortune teller", "My wife loves modern music", "My wife speaks French", "Wife I'm scared"…

Not long ago, the program "Mai Vang Nhan Ai" organized by Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper with the support of Nam A Commercial Joint Stock Bank visited him.

The famous singer sang the song "Tu Ech di Sai Gon" for the troupe. The passing of a famous singer who made famous the song "Vong co hai" has left many regrets in the theater world and music lovers.

Artist Van Huong's funeral was held at his private home in Thu Duc City, the burial ceremony was at 6:00 a.m. on December 8, the funeral was held at 8:00 a.m. on December 11, then cremated at Phuc An Vien cemetery in Thu Duc City.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/danh-ca-vong-co-hai-van-huong-qua-doi-196231208050817495.htm