People's Artist Thanh Hai, composer of the plays "Doi Co Luu" and "To Anh Nguyet", passed away.

Musician Thanh Hai's family announced that after a period of serious illness, he passed away at 3:45 p.m. on May 26.

Musician Thanh Hai - Photo archive

Thanh Hai is considered the creator of the musical soul for a series of famous cai luong plays such as Doi Co Luu, To Anh Nguyet, Han Mac Tu, Chuyen Tinh Lan and Diep, Trang Hoa Mai ...

Thanh Hai, a Northern boy who loves reformed opera

Musician Thanh Hai was born in 1957 in Hai Phong . He comes from a family with a tradition of reformed opera. His father was a zither musician, and his mother was reformed opera artist Bich Dan of the Phuong Dong Reformed Opera Troupe.

At the age of 6 or 7, Thanh Hai was fascinated by the sound of the zither and the lyrics on the radio. So his father taught him to play the zither.

Realizing that his son had outstanding talent, his father thought of finding a better teacher to develop his son's talent.

Thanh Hai's older sister, artist Kim Ha, worked at the Liberation Radio Station. She said that there were musicians from the South who played very well in the North, so she arranged for Thanh Hai to study with teacher Ut Du.

Thanh Hai was also fortunate to meet the artist couple Thanh Hung - Ngoc Hoa who guided him. When he was 11 or 12 years old, Thanh Hai was continuously listened to for months by the couple on tapes and CDs of famous Southern musicians such as Van Vi, Van Gioi, Nam Co, Bay Ba, and Hai Thom.

Just listening and practicing playing, the 16, 17 year old boy's playing began to become famous on the radio in the North.

When Liberation Radio performed the play " The Tyrant" (author: Le Duy Hanh), the orchestra of about 15 musicians had only Thanh Hai playing classical music with the guitar, and he was the youngest, making everyone admire the young man's outstanding talent.

Around 1976, Thanh Hai went to the South and had the opportunity to meet and work with musicians and instrumentalists that he had listened to and admired such as Van Vi, Van Gioi, Nam Co, Bay Ba, and Hai Thom.

Having met good teachers, Thanh Hai's ability improved day by day.

Musician Thanh Hai in the program To a Soulmate - Photo: LINH DOAN

The talented musician

Around 1978, musician Thanh Hai began to pursue a professional career in Cai Luong. He was in charge of Cai Luong music for many famous troupes such as the City Performing Arts Troupe, Cai Luong Troupe 2-84, and Tran Huu Trang Cai Luong Theatre...

Thanh Hai's reputation was built not only because of his talent but also because of his intense passion for reformed opera and his diligence in researching and creating reformed opera music.

He can play many musical instruments such as violin, organ, guitar, zither, zither, gourd, trumpet...

He once confided: "A musician, a composer sometimes only needs to know and specialize in 1 or 2 musical instruments. But I like to explore and learn many musical instruments so that when I write music, I know the features of each instrument, which will make it easier to harmonize and arrange."

Because he knows a lot, the reformed music of the plays he directs always has its own unique features and charm for the listeners.

In the play To Anh Nguyet , he composed the background music and also composed the song in the opening scene. The song Truong Tuong Tu in the play is a song of resentment in Cai Luong, but he arranged and harmonized it in a new way.

At first, some people in the profession refused because they thought it "destroyed" tradition, but later the arrangement won over the audience and became an attractive piece, a highlight of the play.

Musician Thanh Hai is also known as the person who, together with musician Van Gioi, adapted the song Vong Kim Lang , which is very popular in reformed operas and is often used as the theme song in reformed opera and amateur music programs on radio stations.

Musician Thanh Hai is also a person who is attached to and performs folk music in the program A O Show .

Artist Bach Tuyet once expressed her respect and considered him a soul mate, he also accompanied her in the program Cai Luong Academy .

LINH DOAN

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nsnd-thanh-hai-nguoi-soan-nhac-cac-vo-doi-co-luu-to-anh-nguyet-qua-doi-20250525232240517.htm