Ha Noi Opera House to open for visitors from next month

A corner of the Ha Noi Opera House

The General Department of Tourism, the management board of the Ha Noi Opera House, the Department on Art and Performance designed two programs for tourists, including a sightseeing tour and a sightseeing-art performance tour.

The Opera House will provide sightseeing tours with less than 20 visitors in 70 minutes at VND 120,000 per person. A combined tour will cover less than 250 visitors in 90 minutes of sightseeing and around 30 minutes of watching an art performance at a cost of VND 400,000 per person.

The combined tour will take place every Monday and Thursday at fixed hours. The sightseeing tour will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Art performance includes national music instruments, Vietnamese opera, and popular opera.

The Ha Noi Opera House was built by the French in 1911, and renovated in the late 1990s. It is widely lauded as an incredible building.

It is an old theatre with French architecture and typical Gothic and Mosaic characters reflected on the door domes and the glassed room respectively. The facade is colonial French with pillars and balconies overlooking the city centre.

The 900-seat opera house plays host to visiting foreign performances as well as Vietnamese symphonies.

The exterior is a delightful mix of French neo-classical design with shuttered windows, wrought iron balconies and tiles friezes./.

By Kim Anh