Vietnam opera diva dies suddenly after three-week European tour
HANOI -
Vietnam's most famous opera singer, Le Dung, has died of a stroke at the age of just 45, only 10 days after completing a
three-week European tour, officials said Tuesday.
Dung, who had won prizes for her work in countries as diverse as France, Hungary and North Korea, died in the capital's
Friendship Hospital early Monday, the deputy director of the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra (VNSO), Tran Tri Dung
told AFP.
She had been rushed to the hospital Friday after collapsing following her morning exercise routine, he said.
Dung had only returned to Vietnam a week earlier to celebrate the Tet lunar New Year holiday at home after performances in
the Czech Republic and Poland.
The diva began her singing career as a teenager in 1970, joining one of the troupes of artists that entertained communist forces
during the Vietnam War.
She made a name for herself as an opera performer while lecturing at the Hanoi Army Arts School in the late 1980s and joined
the VNSO in 1990 as both a singer and lecturer.
In 1993 she became the youngest person ever to be awarded Vietnam's top artistic accolade.
Vietnam, like China, has its own tradition of classical opera but colonial France further encouraged the art form, building opera
houses in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Agence France Presse - January 30, 2001.
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