The heroic spirit of the divine poem "Nam Quoc Son Ha" in the reformed opera "The poem of the saddle"

The heroic atmosphere in the first performance of the classic Vietnamese historical opera "The poem on the saddle"

The Cai Luong play Cau Tho Yen Ngua was once the pride of the Minh To ancient Cai Luong family and of the Ho Chi Minh City stage after 1975. Its content recounts one of the most heroic historical periods of the nation: the Ly Dynasty with the famous war against the Song army on the Nhu Nguyet River (Cau River). And also here, the famous general Ly Thuong Kiet wrote the poem Than Nam Quoc Son Ha , which is considered the first declaration of independence of our country.

The talented generals of the Ly Dynasty all devoted themselves to assisting Queen Mother Linh Nhan (played by People's Artist Que Tran) to preserve and protect the country and fight against foreign invaders. Photo: THUY BINH

Ly Thuong Kiet (played by Meritorious Artist Vo Minh Lam) and Grand Tutor Ly Dao Thanh (played by Meritorious Artist Chi Linh) combined like a dragon and a tiger, two powerful arms of the Ly Dynasty, working together to defeat foreign invaders. Photo: THUY BINH

This is a purely Vietnamese stage work, expressing the beauty of ancient cai luong by inheriting and promoting traditional hat boi choreography, attracting listeners with new, unique, and unique musical pieces composed by musician Duc Phu, including traditional pieces, don ca tai tu, cai luong, expressing the harmony of ancient and modern music.

The play has been staged and performed by People's Artist Thanh Tong and many generations of artists and directors to serve a large audience at Cai Luong stages and has been recorded by Ho Chi Minh City Television in many versions with different performing artist teams.

The play was also brought to France by People's Artist Thanh Tong for performance and won many awards at national Cai Luong Festivals.

People's Artist Que Tran and Meritorious Artist Vo Minh Lam in the cai luong play "The poem on the horse saddle". Photo: THUY BINH

Meritorious Artist Tu Suong in the role of Empress Thuong Duong and Meritorious Artist Bao Tri in the role of Ve Uong, have many scenes that are compatible and captivating to the audience. Photo: THUY BINH

On the evening of April 19, the play demonstrated its grandeur, scale, splendid and luxurious stage, beautiful costumes, LED screen combined with lighting and sound techniques contributing to the effects, effectiveness, uniqueness and uniqueness of the play.

In particular, the play features the participation of a cast of artists who are currently loved by many cai luong audiences, such as: People's Artist Que Tran (as Queen Mother Linh Nhan), Meritorious Artist Tu Suong (Empress Thuong Duong), Meritorious Artist Vo Minh Lam (Ly Thuong Kiet), Meritorious Artist Chi Linh (Grand Tutor Ly Dao Thanh), Meritorious Artist Bao Tri (Ve Uong), Artist Dien Trung (Ly Ngan), Artist Minh Truong (Hoang Chan), Artist Le Thanh Thao (Cam Tu), Artist Nha Thy (Thuy Hong)... all of whom have combined their singing and acting well, creating many impressive and attractive scenes.

Meritorious Artist Vo Minh Lam plays the role of famous general Ly Thuong Kiet and talented generals under his command. Photo: THUY BINH

The scene where Ly Thuong Kiet composed the divine poem "Nam Quoc Son Ha", recited by Meritorious Artist Vo Minh Lam with a resounding voice... moved and touched many audiences, the patriotic spirit was aroused and spread to all audiences. Photo: THUY BINH

The most impressive performance was probably that of Meritorious Artist Vo Minh Lam in the role of the famous general Ly Thuong Kiet, who composed the poem " The Mountains and Rivers of the South" and recited the poem with the voice and breath of the opera performance technique, imbued with heroic spirit and resounding sound, which moved and touched many audiences.

The spirit of the divine poem spread throughout the theater auditorium, the patriotic spirit was strongly aroused, each round of applause from the audience resounded loudly, encouraging the patriotic spirit and the historical story gradually increased in heat and attraction, following the climax of the story of the struggle to defend the country of the heroic and talented generals of Vietnam.

The confrontation between Queen Mother Linh Nhan and Queen Thuong Duong in the Ly Dynasty in the cai luong play "The Poem of the Horse Saddle". Photo: THUY BINH

Empress Thuong Duong (played by Meritorious Artist Tu Suong) tries every way to fight for her position and the throne from Empress Dowager Linh Nhan (played by People's Artist Que Tran). Photo: THUY BINH

Besides that heroic and spirited performance, in other valuable performances by talented and skilled artists, the audience's applause continuously rang out loudly, providing great spiritual support for the crew of the 2025 version of the Cai Luong play Cau Tho Yen Ngua .

It is known that the tickets for the play were sold out many days before the performance time. On the night of the performance, all 400 seats (downstairs and upstairs) of the Tran Huu Trang Opera House were packed with spectators.

Another plus point for the first performance of the historical cai luong play Cau tho yen ngua is that many young audiences came to the theater to watch the play, finding the appeal and excitement of a quality cai luong stage work.

Faced with the situation that many audiences were unable to buy tickets to see the first performance of the classic historical opera "The Poem of the Horse Saddle" , the production crew of the play has scheduled the next performance, taking place on the evening of May 10, 2025 at Tran Huu Trang Opera House, to meet the needs of the audience to enjoy the play.

Empress Thuong Duong was panicked and afraid of being punished when her actions were exposed, her actions colluding with foreign countries, her plot to overthrow the government, and her usurpation of the throne were exposed... Photo: THUY BINH

The most anticipated scene of the classic cai luong play "The Poem of the Horse Saddle" - when Queen Mother Linh Nhan signed the verdict of the Thuong Duong Queen, under pressure from the loyal minister Thai Su Ly Dao Thanh. Photo: THUY BINH

This play praising the patriotic historical tradition of the Vietnamese army and people is also a work, a traditional theatrical work, and contributes a valuable artistic performance to the series of activities celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification.

This is also the first historical cai luong play to open the project of recreating a series of pure Vietnamese classical cai luong plays that have made a good impression on the public up to now, by the team of composer Hoang Song Viet, director - Meritorious Artist Hoa Ha and talented cai luong stage artists.

THUY BINH

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/khi-the-hao-hung-cua-bai-tho-than-nam-quoc-son-ha-trong-vo-cai-luong-cau-tho-yen-ngua-post791573.html