The Tales of Kieu by Nguyen Du Conquers German Poetry Lovers

On April 1, a reading of the Tales of Kieu (Truyen Kieu) in German was held at the Palace of Culture in the ancient city of Dresden, Germany, on the background of the music by Professor, musician Dang Ngoc Long.

This special cultural event attracted over 100 people, most of the being German and international friends.

The reading and performance were organized and funded by Dresden Die Märchen 1001 (Fairy Tales 1001) to honor the work Tales of Kieu of the great poet Nguyen Du and promote Vietnamese culture in the host country.

Composer Dang Ngoc Long and Christiane Voigt at the story reading session. (Photo: VNA)

At the reading session, organizers gave a brief summary of the Tales of Kieu, which has been translated into more than 20 other languages.

The work is the classic epic of Vietnamese literature, opening a new cultural world with unexpected rhymes and poetic images. Poet Nguyen Du, also known as To Nhu and Thanh Hien, was honored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a World Cultural Celebrity in 2013.

The German translation of "Das Mädchen Kieu" was completed by the late German poet and journalist Irene and Franz Faber, who spent 7 years continuously studying Vietnamese, researching and looking up poetic ideas to complete this work.

According to the organizers, the translation is very popular in Germany. The reading session aims to expand the introduction of this work to the German public. Professor Dang Ngoc Long composed a work of 7 chapters of the Tales of Kieu to play at the reading of this masterpiece. The combination of reading and music left great impressions in the heart of poetry lovers in Germany.

The reading session was organized in Dresden, where many Vietnamese people are living and working, in order to bring German and international friends as well as the Vietnamese community to understand more about Vietnamese literature and culture, contributing to the promotion of cultural exchanges between Vietnam and Germany.

The reading session by the inspirational voice of famous female singer and broadcaster Christiane Voigt on the background of the music by Professor Dang Ngoc Long was warmly received by the audience.

The audience came to enjoy the reading of Tales of Kieu. (Photo: VNA)

Many German audiences also appreciated the music work from the originality of the compilation idea as well as the blending of music into the poetry of the Tales of Kieu. Vietnamese audiences expressed their pride when hearing the lyrics and music resounded in a strange place far away from the Fatherland.

According to Professor Dang Ngoc Long, his music work is associated with the Tales of Kieu and is highly appreciated in recent times. The work was selected as a mandatory test for the 2020 International Guitar Competition in Berlin. To make the reading event livelier and more attractive, the organizers contacted to invite him to perform in the meaningful session.

Although this is not the first time performing the music, this time gives him indescribable emotions when playing in the heart of the ancient city of Dresden, which is likened to the “pearl” of European architecture on the Elbe River.

The German version of Tales of Kieu was translated by the late husband and wife of German poets and journalists Irene and Franz Faber from the storybook that Faber was given as a gift by President Ho Chi Minh when he visited Vietnam. Understanding the value of the book, Faber translated the book into German to spread the essence of the work to the German people and the world.

The German translation was first published in the German Democratic Republic in 1964, more than a year before the 200th birth anniversary of the great poet Nguyen Du, and reprinted once in 1980.

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