Mongolian melody in France

An orchestra comprising traditional vocalists and instrument players charms foreign audience. Chen Nan reports.

Chinese Mongolian musicians clad in long colorful robes and leather boots performed at the Basilica of Notre-Dame du Port in Nice, France, on March 11, producing sounds which are alien to the Romanesque basilica - a UNESCO World Heritage site dating to the 6th century.

And using the morin khuur (the horse-head fiddle) and such other such instruments, the musicians performed both Western classics - pieces from Czech composer Bed ich Smetana's comic opera, The Bartered Bride and Carmen Overture by French composer Georges Bizet - as well as nomadic melodies, such as Thousands of Horses Galloping by Chiborag, a composer from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.