Sole French opera created in Vietnam to be played after over a century

HO CHI MINH CITY, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- "Frédégonde," the only French opera created in Vietnam, will be played here on Oct. 20-21 since it made debut in 1895.

Artists from France and the Ho Chi Minh City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) will play the opera completed by French composer Camille Saint-Saens when he visited Vietnam's Con Dao Island and Saigon in 1895, the HBSO said on Friday.

The opera, which is about Frédégonde, a servant-turned queen in the pre-Medieval period, has some Asian elements, including the use of traditional instruments such as gongs and wooden clarinets.