As the final emphatic notes of Brahms' Violin Concerto in D Major reverberate through Hanoi's Grand Opera House, conductor Tetsuji Honna turns his baton toward soloist Bui Cong Duy wearing an expression verging on fatherly pride.
And as the music gives way to enthusiastic applause, Honna communicates that same benevolent countenance to each member of the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra (VNSO), which the internationally acclaimed Japanese maestro unabashedly refers to as family.
"Vietnam has become much more than just some second home," says Honna, the VNSO's musical director and principal conductor, who settled in Vietnam in 2001. "The people here, the work I have been allowed to do. ... I feel very, very lucky."