On November 2, one of the world's great cellists will take the stage at Hanoi's Hồ Gươm Opera. Mischa Maisky — regularly ranked among the ten greatest cellists of all time — headlines the 13th Cello Fundamento concert, sharing the bill with his daughter, pianist Lily Maisky, and French violinist Nicolas Dautricourt.
The evening's real milestone belongs to Vietnam's own Đinh Hoài Xuân, the founder and director of the Cello Fundamento series. She will join Maisky for a cello duet, becoming the first Asian cellist ever to perform one with him. The two met while Xuân was studying in Romania, and she has spent years trying to bring him to Vietnam. It took several attempts before schedules aligned — and, by her own account, a normal booking would have cost far more than a concert series like this could ever afford. His appearance is effectively a personal favour and a sign of how far the series has come.
Maisky hand-picked the programme and appears in every piece on it. At Xuân's suggestion, he agreed to weave in Brahms and Schumann alongside Schubert, tailoring the repertoire to Vietnamese audiences. Xuân joins him in the second half for a four-movement Handel sonata running roughly fifteen minutes — a brief slot she has prepared for months, down to rehearsing alternative tempos in case Maisky's interpretation shifts on the night. She calls this the most technically demanding edition in the series' history.
Dautricourt is a returning name: he has played at Cello Fundamento twice before, on a Stradivarius worth around US$20 million, and his repeated involvement has lifted the series' international profile.
For visitors in Hanoi in early November, this is a rare chance to hear a genuine living legend in an intimate opera house steps from Hoan Kiem Lake, at a fraction of what the same bill would cost in a European capital. Even if classical music isn't usually your thing, the setting and the occasion make it a memorable night out. Tickets and details are typically announced through the series and the opera house closer to the date, so book early — Maisky's name will sell this one fast.
