classicalive

Bangkok Opera's new season

2009-03-28T12:55:00.003-05:00

There are interesting political developments unfolding in Thailand all the time it seems, but in my focus on the governmental woes of the country I missed the equally interesting announcement of Bangkok Opera's new season. It is wholly ambitious:

Massanet's THAÏS in June
Bruce Gaston's A BOY AND TIGER in July (World Premiere)
Puccini's LA BOHEME in August
Wagner's SIEGFRIED in Novemeber, continuing the "Bangkok Ring"
Gluck's ORFEO ED EURIDCE in December

While in Bangkok from September 2007 to July 2008, the only full production Bangkok Opera was able to produce was Die Walkure. According to Artistic Director Somtow Sucharitkul, "2008 was a year of regrouping for Bangkok Opera." The Siam Philharmonic--the opera's resident orchestra--was completely overhauled and embarked on a concert series to establish a "more reliable standard" for the group. It seems the year off from producing was a wise and healthy choice for the company, given the fervence of its return 2009 season.

There is too much for me to comment on here, so I'm going to focus on the Gaston premiere (not that the Thai premiere of Thaïs, the resumption of the Bangkok Ring Cycle, and Michael Chance starring as Orfeo aren't worthy). A Boy and Tiger is based on "The Life of Pi" and will be Bangkok Opera's first presentation of a Thai language opera (something they've been criticized for neglecting in the past). It's a children's opera, created by Gaston for the young members of the Baan Garda community, a refuge for HIV postive orphans. In this adaptation, the Tiger comes to be a symbol for AIDS. Read more about Gaston's concept on the Bangkok Opera website, and note the last paragraph:

Bruce Gaston, the composer, has combined the Orff Schulwerk system of music education with the rich tradition of Thai classical singing and xylophone playing to create the music for the opera.

Gaston has created Thai music dramas in the past and was a pioneer--along with Sucharitkul--in combining Western art music and Thai classical music sounds in unconventional ways, starting in the 1970s (more on that here, in Chapter II, section vii and Chapter III, sections iv & v). Judging from this collaboration and recent postings on Somtow's blog, it seems that after nearly thirty years, he and Gaston are ready to start a fresh partnership, something that frankly did not seem likely to me even just a year ago. I'm sorry not to be there for the results, which are sure to be interesting. A Boy and Tiger is an important project that I hope will find an audience beyond Thailand.

Community Orchestra Concert

2009-03-26T08:20:00.001-05:00

Madison Community Orchestra
Friday, March 27
7:30 PM
Mitby Theater (MATC Truax Campus)
Free! With refreshments to follow.

Featuring Glinka's Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila, Tchaikovsky's Waltz from Eugene Onegin, and Ippolitov‐Ivanov's Caucasion Sketches: Suite No. 2 (Iveria). The Ippolitov-Ivanov is a gorgeous work, sort of like Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, and Bartok all rolled into one.

A link to "the paper"

2009-02-01T10:38:00.006-06:00

A working version of the paper that came out of my research in Thailand last year is now available here. (Apologies the formatting is so stark.) Another chapter or two remains to be added, though some of that material is what I covered in the Symphony article. Questions, comments, suggestions welcome.

UPDATE: A fully linked table of contents has been added to the paper for easier navigation.

The VieTrio: Pop meets classical in Bangkok

2009-01-25T11:53:00.009-06:00

The VieTrio is a phenomenon that was developing right as I was leaving Thailand. Composed of the Srinarong siblings Paye, Parn, and Pintusorn ("Pui"), the trio aggressively fuses pop and classical, a formula that's met with great success in Bangkok. They were signed by GMM Grammy (the largest record label in Thailand), became the face of Nissan's advertising campaign for the Tida, and released their first album, "Miracle," this summer. I've been told it reached number one on the Thai charts. Their music is light and geared for wide appeal, with all sorts of computerized accompaniment, but I would not be so quick to dismiss the VieTrio's efforts.

Sutin Srinarong, the father of Paye, Parn, and Pui, was an original member and longtime principal violinist of the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, and he also founded the Thai Youth Orchestra. His children grew up with classical music, and Paye and Parn were both recipients of the late HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana's scholarships to study classical music abroad. Paye (violin) did his undergrad work at the Royal Academy of Music in London, finished his AD and MM at Yale, and is working on his PhD at Stony Brook right now, commuting between New York and Bangkok. New Yorkers may have seen him subbing in the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra or playing with the Sybarite Players. Parn (cello) studied in Hong Kong and does freelance work, mostly with the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra. Pui (also violin) is the youngest and I believe heads the Thai Youth Orchestra.

I played with Paye and Parn briefly in the Siam Philharmonic, and later caught up with Paye to talk about some of his experiences. It was just after Princess Galyani had passed away, and he was in the midst of an extensive publicity campaign highlighting her efforts to promote Western classical music in Thailand. He expressed frustration with how orchestras in Bangkok were run, the naivety of conservatory students, the lack of chamber music being made, the limitations both musicians and the broader public impose on themselves as far as learning more about classical music, and in general with the lack of visibility the art form had, how closed off it was from reality for so many. I know these all sound like universal problems for classical music, but they are exacerbated in Thailand and other developing nations, where funding is even harder to come by and the music is not on native ground.

Last year Paye and Parn came into contact with "Boy" Takonkiet Viravan, one of Thailand's biggest TV producers. They were playing in his new stage spectacular, Fah Jarad Soi, and he saw in them the potential to reach across the aisle. The Srinarong siblings are equally attractive and talented, an easy combination to promote, and thus the VieTrio was born, with Paye and Boy managing the group.

As you can tell from the music video above, they're going for straight pop appeal, and it's working. This marketing angle and the popularity the trio has found (9,000 in attendance at their first full-blown concert) is unique, and it may have huge implications for classical music in Thailand, where just getting images of a violin and cello on TV is progress. Also, something Paye and I discussed last year was the need for Thai "celebrities" in classical music. Bundit Ungrangsee is the name most Thais associate with Western classical music, but his actual work in Thailand has been limited and he's best known for his inspirational business memoirs. Now Paye and his sisters can act as Yo-Yo-Ma does for the US and Lang Lang for China, as liaisons to the often closed off classical world. And that's why I'm a sucker for the VieTrio. Paye, Parn, and Pui have the chops and are doing what they can to reach a broader public. And it looks like they're having a lot of fun, too, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Symphony readers, welcome!

2009-01-25T11:36:00.005-06:00

I just had an article published in the Jan/Feb issue of Symphony magazine on orchestra life in Thailand and have seen a spike in page loads, so welcome new readers! Regular visitors over the last year will know that the orchestra scene was just a fraction of what I was exploring in Bangkok, but as an extension to the Symphony piece I'm going to start posting excerpts from my as yet unpublished research, with a focus on the development of Western classical music in Thailand and Thai composers. In the meantime, please explore the blog archives between September 2007 and July 2008 for more on my experiences in Thailand.

Inauguration music, WCO, & Orfeo

2009-01-24T01:15:00.005-06:00

I'm lumping quite a bit together here, but these are the musical matters on my mind this morning.

I commented at Dial "M" that I thought John

Williams' "Air/Simple Gifts" worked well enough, but that the meandering opening probably lost most of the 2 million on the Mall. The piece certainly fit the mood (reflective, excited, patriotic) but ideally, another composer would have been commissioned (perhaps a younger, lesser known composer as Michelle Obama did with her designer choice). Or, if Copland-esque was ordered, why not just go with straight Copland. Anyway, now it emerges that a recording was used and we in fact heard none of the sound that Yo-Yo's enthusiastic bouncing around was producing. Any musician will understand the necessity of using a recording in that weather, but after all of the cheering about classical music's place in the inauguration ceremonies, yesterday saw this new bit of information hashed out and laughed at on all of the news channels (I saw it flashing on CNN and MSNBC at the same time in the gym, and even the likes of Perez Hilton are now comparing Yo-Yo-Ma to Ashlee Simpson, not the pop-culture relevance we were hoping for). Hopefully the beautiful sight and sound of the quartet are what will linger for most, but instead of just letting this slightly controversial news leak out and then slip away, why not redeem any viewers who feel slighted and capitalize on the publicity. Ma, McGill, Perlman, and Montero should reorganize and go on the Today show or Good Morning America to play Air/Simple Gifts live in the studio, along with some Messiaen (preferably Louange à l'Éternité de Jésus).

Last night I had my first encounter with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble that is still recovering from a musicians' strike that halted the start of their season. The program included Einojuhani Rautavaara's Concerto for Birds and Orchestra, Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major, and Respighi's Gli Uccelli (The Birds). Rautavaara's piece was a nice surprise, with lush, modal writing interjected with bird noises (set to the perfect volume). The WCO sounded totally in its element with the Haydn, and soloist Amit Peled had a gorgeous tone. A few things bothered me about his interpretation though: his phrasing choices seemed so far from natural, so distant from what Haydn wrote, that it came across very self consciously as just that, an "interpretation." Peled's different mannerisms also obstructed at times, but in the end I love this piece too much not to have enjoyed it. The last movement, which proceeds at a breakneck speed, was the least manipulated (likely because of the speed) and proved triumphant, all of the gloriously hard runs nailed. Peled was called for an encore and played what I'm guessing was an excerpt from a concerto written for him by an Israeli composer for his upcoming CD of contemporary Israeli works. The Respighi was pure fluff but I guess fit the avian theme well, and the orchestra again sounded excellent. Yet again I left the Overture Center feeling very lucky for all that Madison offers.

I debated heading to the Met's HD transmission of Orfeo ed Euridice today but opted for radio instead, saving my cash for the traveling John Doyle production of Sweeney Todd at the Overture Center tonight. What an amazing confluence of voices. Blythe and DeNeise both blew me away, so rich. It doesn't hurt that Gluck's writing is so good to the singer, perhaps the greatest hour and a half of opera ever written. Seriously.

Frigid day

2009-01-14T19:22:00.000-06:00

This is what a -20 degree morning looks like from my window. Hence the ski socks and thermal underwear being worn to work today.

Best of 2008, Bangkok/Madison

2009-01-04T08:18:00.004-06:00

From Thailand to the Midwest, my thoughts on the best performances of 2008 will be pretty different from the rest (sorry, no Dr. Atomic or Dudamel). Here goes:

-Siam Philharmonic, Eternity Premiere, Bangkok April 20

Thai composer Trisdee na Patalung wrote "Eternity" in memory of HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana, Western classical music's most passionate patron in Thailand, who passed away early last year. Under his direction, the Siam Philharmonic sounded the best I'd ever heard it on this haunting, beautiful, simple piece for strings and pi java (Thai funereal oboe).

-Kor Phai, Bangkok, May 9

Anant Narkong founded the contemporary Thai classical ensemble Kor Phai in the early 1980s. Philosophically and stylistically, the group shares a lot with the better known Thai fusion ensemble Fong Naam (founded by Bruce Gaston), but in this performance it was clear they have a voice of their own. Razor sharp modern interpretations of traditional Thai classics, melodic fusion pieces, and amusing "hip-hop meets luk-thung" numbers were at the core of this highly entertaining performance.

-The Classical Elements, Bangkok, June 8

This concert was devoted entirely to new music by Thai composers Anothai Nitibhon, Denny Euprasert, Art Jiradeth, and Polwit Opapnant. Contrasting styles, enthusiastic performers and a packed house made for a memorable afternoon of music making. A precedent setting event for new music in Thailand.

-Royal Thai Navy School of Music Wai khru, Bangkok, June 12

Finding live Thai classical music--really good live Thai classical music--can be a challenge for foreigners in Bangkok. Studying Thai music gave me some access but nothing prepared me for this ceremony at the Royal Thai Navy School of Music. The wai khru is a traditional honoring of one's music teachers past and present. It can also be an initiation for young musicians as they become formal students of a particular master. The Navy piphat ensemble that played at this lavish, traditional wai khru is one of the best in the country, known for intricate arrangements and fast, precise playing. The music, especially in this context, was overwhelming. Think of it as hearing Bach at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig.

-Eon Trio, Bangkok, June 13

It was apparent immediately to me that there was a drought of chamber music in Bangkok. The young Eon Trio (Thai/British pianist Christopher Janwong McKiggan, Thai cellist Ekachai Maskularat, Chinese violinist Qiang Xiaoxiao, all conservatory students in Singapore) came on my radar early on but didn't perform until my last month in Thailand, and it was worth the wait. With a smart program of music by Gaspor Cassado, Frank Martin, Mendelssohn and a Piazzolla encore, the trio communicated well with each other and the audience, drawing us in with their fluid movements and rich playing. Here's hoping they work out of Bangkok after graduation.

-Madama Butterfly, Madison Opera, November 21

Okay, I work for Madison Opera so feel free to discredit this, but Maria Kanyova as Cio-Cio-San in Jun Kaneko's visually intriguing production of Butterfly was undeniably a highlight of the year for me. Kaneko's stripped down designs, simply symbolic and centered on primary colors, left plenty of room for the drama to come through in the music.

-Madison Symphony Orchestra Christmas Spectacular, December 6

I would be lying if I listed the Sarah Chang/MSO Brahms and Shostakovich concert instead of the Christmas Spectacular. Soprano Jamie Rose Guarine, tenor Gregory Turray, the Madison Area Concert Handbells, the Madison Youth Choirs, and the Mt. Zion Gospel Choir all joined the MSO for this evening of rousing, feel-good holiday music. What struck me was how smoothly all of the collaborations worked, and despite the final sing-a-long, many of the programming choices went well beyond the obvious Christmas fare. The night was a testament to all of the musical forces at work in Madison.

-Alisa Weilerstein with Inon Barnatan at the Union Theater, Madison, December 13

Weilerstein's explosive performance of the Kodály Sonata for Solo Cello lingers. I still have not quite shaken it, and doubt I will anytime soon. The Beethoven and Chopin sonatas on the program were equally superb, but nothing compares to the physical and emotional impact of Weilerstein's interpretation of the Kodály.

Bangkok concert announcement

2008-12-29T19:02:00.000-06:00

I'm proud to say I had a small part in planning and encouraging these concerts, so if you're in Bangkok or Chiang Mai, please consider attending! In the wake of more protests and political turmoil, this music is sure to provide solace and inspiration...

D&M Music Studio is pleased to present

A Flute and Piano Duo Recital

performed by American artists flutist Peter H. Bloom and pianist Mary Jane Rupert

Music of J.S. Bach, Franz Schubert, Aaron Copland, Elizabeth Vercoe, and Narong Prangcharoen

TWO LOCATIONS:

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009, at 8:00 PM

Goethe Institute (Thai German Cultural Foundation)
South Sathorn Road Soi 1, Bangkok
Price: 400 Baht, 200 Students

(Tickets are available at Robinson Piano Showroom, 5th Fl Siam Discovery Center 02-658-1080-1

and at the door by calling Khun Mongkol at 081-682-8000.

Saturday, January 17, 2009, at 7:30 pm

Language Schools, AUA, 73 Rajadamnern Road, Chiang Mai. Tel: 053211377

Price: 300 Baht, 200 Students

Tickets are available by calling Khun Mongkol at 081-682-8000

PROGRAMME:

Sonata in A Major, BWV 1032 by J.S. Bach

Theme and Variations, Opus 160 by Franz Schubert

Duo for Flute and Piano by Aaron Copland

Kleemation (2003) by Elizabeth Vercoe (Thailand premiere)

Between Heaven and Earth (2008) by Narong Prangcharoen (world premiere)

In a collaboration spanning 20 years, flutist Peter H. Bloom and pianist/harpist Mary Jane Rupert have performed in venues across the United States, winning praise for compelling performances of repertoire by European and American masters.

Bloom, whose playing has been called "a revelation for unforced sweetness and strength" (The Boston Globe), tours with leading ensembles and appears on 30 CDs from SONY Classical, Dorian, Newport Classic, Leo Records, and other labels, with distribution throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Winner of the American Musicological Society’s coveted Noah Greenberg Award, he is an acclaimed classical musician and also a noted jazz artist, celebrating his 30^th season as flutist/saxophonist with the internationally renowned Aardvark Jazz Orchestra (“a saxophonic blend worthy of Duke Ellington’s finest reed sections” - Jazz Times).

Mary Jane Rupert, acclaimed as a concert pianist and harpist, has performed throughout the world from Carnegie Recital Hall to the Beijing Concert Hall. She has appeared with symphony orchestras and chamber music groups across the United States; records for North Star Records and Harmony Hill; and serves on the music faculties of Tufts University, Wellesley College, Boston College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Rupert holds a DM in Piano Performance and Music Literature, an MM in Piano, and an MM in Harp from Indiana University, as well as a BM in Piano from Oberlin College.

Composer Elizabeth Vercoe has been hailed by The Washington Post as “one of the most inventive composers working in America today.” She has been a composer at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Italy, the St. Petersburg Spring Music Festival in Russia, the Cité International des Arts in Paris, the Charles Ives Center for American Music, and the MacDowell Colony.

The music of composer Narong Prangcharoen has been called “absolutely captivating” (Chicago Sun Times). His compositions have been performed in Asia, Australia, Europe and the United States by renowned ensembles such as the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Nagoya Philharmonic, Melbourne Symphony, and New York New Music Ensemble. In 2007 the Thai government named him a Contemporary National Artist and awarded him the prestigious Silapathorn Award. He received the Alexander Zemlinsky International Composition Competition Prize, the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award, and the Pacific Symphony’s American Composers Competition Prize, among other awards.

Saturday concerts

2008-12-11T19:00:00.003-06:00

I've joined the Madison Community Orchestra, and we're having a Christmas concert in the Capitol Building tomorrow, December 13 at 1 p.m. It's free, so come on down for some holiday cheer!

Also, tomorrow night Madison is lucky enough to have cellist Alisa Weilerstein playing at the Wisconsin Union Theater at 8 p.m. She just performed the same program in New York to a rave review from Steve Smith at the NY Times. It should be a great night; the Kodaly sonata is definitely at the top of the list of pieces I would love to but cannot play.

Just for kicks

2008-11-28T12:27:00.003-06:00

Here's a video from last October, during week three of my lessons on the khong wong yai at Kasetsart University in Bangkok. Quality is poor, but figured I should post for posterity.

The PAD has crossed the line

2008-11-28T11:53:00.002-06:00

This is not a political blog by any means, nor am I in the best position to critique what's going on in Thailand, being in the Midwest of the United States and all. That said, knowing that I have a few Thai readers, and knowing that this blog occasionally comes up in random Google searches for information on Bangkok, I want to go on the record as saying that I believe the People's Alliance for Democracy has absolutely crossed the line in their seizure of Suvarnabhumi Airport. It pains me to think of how these protests will end. It also pains me to see what they have done to the international image of Thailand, a place that to the average American now looks dangerous and backwards, though I know it to be incredibly safe and full of beauty and respect for life and individuality. Just last night, on a local Wisconsin news channel, the headline flashed, "Two local students trapped in Thailand." The headline might as well have flashed, "Thailand kisses booming tourism economy goodbye." It does not matter that the protesters are apologetic for disrupting foreign travel, that they want to feed and help those they have affected; all that matters is the fear-mongering headline flashing on a local news station half-way around the world.

At this point, it also does not matter that the PAD was founded on noble causes, with the noble quest to end corruption in the government and rid Thai politics of vote-buying and the general residual scum of the Thaksin regime. As Somtow Sucharitkul eloquently points out here, those causes lost meaning the second the PAD proposed that the rural poor vote be disqualified and replaced by parliament representatives. Democracy means that every vote is counted, even the ones that seemingly go against the voter's best interest. This has been happening in America for decades (see "What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America") and is a fact of any democracy, but as Somtow points out, the phenomenon is not overcome by stripping those who are misinformed of their rights, it comes by educating them over time.

I understand that passions are high and a lot is at stake, but nothing good can come of this standoff at the airport, especially with protesters saying they are "prepared to die." For what?

Leif Ove Andsnes in Bangkok: A Guest Report

2008-11-14T08:30:00.003-06:00

While the blog heading has changed to indicate a focus on Madison, I've been a bad citizen of the arts lately and haven't really posted on Madison events, and as it turns out this post is again about Bangkok. Work, costs, and time have kept me from the best concerts and shows Madison has offered over the past few months, though the few I have made it to (Shaw's Widowers' Houses at American Players Theater, Sarah Chang with the Madison Symphony Orchestra) were certainly memorable. Last week's recital by Leif Ove Andsnes in Bangkok also sounds memorable, which is why I'm posting this report from guest blogger Li Xia Peng. Born in South Africa, she has lived in Italy, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, and now Thailand for the last 3 years. A citizen of the world and passionate classical music fan, she has come to believe the art form's future lies in Asia, as have many. Without further ado...

Recital by Leif Ove Andsnes
A Tribute in Memory of HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana
Great Artists of the World 2008
Sunday 9 November, Thailand Cultural Centre

Franz Schubert - Sonata No 19 in C minor D958 (Posthumous)
Ludwig van Beethoven - Sonata No 14 in C sharp minor (Sonata quasi una fantasia) Op 27 No 2 (Moonlight)
Modest Mussorgsky - Pictures At An Exhibition

Sunday evening's recital, in memory of HRH Princess Galyani, was Leif Ove Andsnes' first performance in Bangkok, and the first time many of us had the good fortune to hear him perform in person. An eagerly anticipated programme of Schubert, Beethoven and Mussorgsky, it began with some moments of high drama. Maestro launched into the C minor Schubert sonata, shades of Beethoven's 32 Variations in the same key, beautiful, breathtaking, dramatic, but clearly something was amiss. Andsnes was not a happy man, brow furrowed, the odd shake of the head, he began tinkering with the innards of the piano during the first movement, at the end of the Adagio, and by the end of the Trio, stopped, and very politely informed the audience that there was a problem with the Steinway, and that he was 'taking a small break.' Shock, horror, a hushed chorus of oohs and aahs echoed in the hall, the coughers silenced, and the thought did cross some minds that that might just be the end of that. You had to feel for the Norwegian Ambassador who must have been having a quiet crisis of nerves. But all was not lost.

The piano tuner made his appearance on stage, armed with screwdriver, and proceeded to dismantle the piano, audience watching in disbelief as he removed the keyboard from the piano and placed it on the floor like some enormously outrageous set of false teeth. The oohs and aahs made a crescendo alarmato. A man in black appeared, presumably to give the p.t. some moral support, but the look on his face was not vastly reassuring., After some quiet, frantic tinkering, the keyboard rejoined the rest of the Steinway, Maestro Andsnes strode back on stage and launched into the final movement, the Allegro, and we were off on a whirlwind tarantella, and there was no looking back. Rapturous applause, some of the audience already on their feet. And so on to the Moonlight Sonata, more brisk and businesslike (to go with the Issey Miyake suit?) than Adagio Sostenuto, and a little lacking in poetry and dreaminess, but no matter, the Allegretto and Trio were sweet, touching, delightful, and the finale Presto Agitato took us on a wild, spectacular ride. More rapturous applause.

The interval saw the return of the piano tuner, more tinkering on the piano, presumably in preparation for the enthralling piece that was to come, the Pictures at an Exhibition, and it did not disappoint. Again, the Promenade took off at a brisk pace, not so much a meditative stroll through the exhibition as a spot of power-walking, the Gnome fierce and menacing, the Old Castle wonderfully dream-like, the Tuileries full of the energy of children running through the gardens and arguing, Bydlo depicting a the wild gyrations of an old Polish farm cart pulled by oxen. But my absolute favourite piece of the evening was the Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks, superlatively played, absolutely jaw-dropping. In the scene between Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle, the rich man arrogant and imperious, the poor man quivering and pleading we were treated to a vivid picture of their unequal conversation, and this was followed by a peek into life in the marketplace at Limoges, old women arguing furiously, wonderfully rhythmic. The sound-world of the Catacombs and Con Mortuis in Lingua Mortua was eerie and funereal, again superlatively played. The Baba Yaga then made her appearance, another wild ride in her hut on hen's legs. As Vladimir Ashkenazy once said about this piece, "The witch on a broom is a scary thing. This should sound evil, satanic and powerful" and in Maestro Andsnes' hands it certainly did.. The finale, the Great Gate at Kiev was massively impressive and grand and after the final bells had tolled, the audience erupted in thunderous applause, the Norwegian contigent on their feet, and the Thailand Cultural Centre sounding once again as if it was hosting a rock concert rather than a recital of western classical music.

We were treated to three Debussy preludes as encores, one of which was dedicated to HRH Princess Galyani, and the applause went on and on. Many music students in the audience, a sweet young boy and his girlfriend sitting nearby completely enthralled, savouring every note, very touching to see Maestro Andsnes acknowledging, in a nanosecond and with a charming smile, the applause of another very young fan sitting nearby, who raised his arms high in appreciative applause. Wonderful music, great performance. Thanks Maestro, and hope to see you back in Bangkok soon.

-Li Xia

Call for pictures

2008-10-27T23:38:00.005-05:00

Anybody in Bangkok actively attending orchestra concerts, please let me know if you have any good high-resolution, non-blurry (like all of mine) audience or musician shots you'd like to share for possible publication (credit will be given, of course). Just shoot me an e-mail (see profile) if you're interested, have questions, or have the photos handy!

Now and then

2008-09-20T15:10:00.005-05:00

Connecticut, September 2008

Ratchaburi Province, Thailand, June 2008

Most days it feels like Thailand was a dream. I'm writing an article now on orchestra life in Bangkok which is helping to keep some of the memories and tastes and sounds fresh, and seeing Thai politics in Western papers as of late has encouraged me to keep up old contacts and read Thai-based media more regularly. Still, everything about what I am doing right now feels so incredibly removed from what I was doing less than three months ago that seeing these pictures in the same upload batch today was almost shocking.

New life in Madison

2008-09-07T16:05:00.005-05:00

It's time to announce here that I've started work at Madison Opera as the company's new Manager of Communications and Community Outreach. The timing of it all is sort of miraculous, if you consider the likelihood of finding an arts job (particularly one that entails the exact responsibilities I was hoping for) in a specific mid-size Midwest city on a timeframe that was out of my control. And it's so far so good, as I've joined a stellar team at a company that is most definitely on the rise. Exciting times all around.

For Madison Opera, I'll be blogging at the brand new MadOpera Blog, which will offer a behind the scenes look at upcoming productions and feature interviews with guest opera stars, posts from our General Director Allan Naplan and a lot more. That this is part of my job is really, really awesome.

The likelihood of Classicalive stayin' alive now is not so hot, but I'll keep it around for continued Thai commentary and the occasional post about non-Madison Opera musical happenings in Madison (that don't pose a conflict of interest for this newly annointed PR guy). So stay tuned, and check out The MadOpera Blog as well!

Inspiration

2008-09-07T15:57:00.002-05:00

I found this quote this morning while going through notes from the past year. It gave me chills, I had forgotten about it:

When you hear Thai music, it is like you can remember your past life.

This comes from a conversation I had with Professor Chetana Nagavajara, a former German professor and presently a senior research scholar in arts criticism for the Thailand Research Fund. Chetana continues:

I could philosophize for hours on Thai classical music, because it illustrates the German romantic ideal of a progressive universal art which goes on and on indefinitely; there is no end to it, and it need not be complete or completed...it is always be-come-ing.

Bike thief teams with classical pianist

2008-08-22T09:40:00.003-05:00

So I'm in Madison, Wisconsin now and have exciting personal news to report, but none of it is as interesting (or amusing) as this tidbit I've just run across in the NY Times. The story is about Igor Kenk, a Toronto man who amassed 2,865 stolen bicycles in his years as a used bike shop owner and makeshift social worker (who assigned down-and-outs bikes to steal...). Get to the second page in the article, and who does Mr. Kenk live with? None other than a classical pianist, of course! Jeannie Chung, a student of Leon Fleisher, fresh from performances at Banff with the amazing cellist Andres Diaz (the teacher of my teacher) and others, is referred to as Kenk's "partner" and faces drug charges in addition to possession of stolen goods. One has to wonder what she thought about the bikes, and if she ever cribbed any herself. Perhaps the epic nature of her beau's crime inspired her while tackling Rachmaninoff, perhaps she was Kenk's desperado muse. Classical music, keeping it real in the underground Canadian crime world of drugs...and stolen bicycles.

Leaving on a jet plane...

2008-07-15T02:04:00.004-05:00

[Insert cliche about time flying here.] I'm posting from Narita Airport in Tokyo, en-route to New York from Bangkok, exactly 10 months after making the same trip in reverse. My last few weeks and days in Thailand were much busier than I had planned on. I never found the time to escape the city one more time, to meet with a few more people I would have liked, to write a few more posts, or to make my paper resemble something close to a finished product. But so it goes. There were high points though, including really inspiring conversations with three big musical figures in Bangkok: Bruce Gaston of Fong Naam, Anant Narkong of Kor Phai, and Chetana Nagavajara, a German professor, literature scholar, and music critic who is known as the "watchdog" of classical music life in Thailand.

In between work related matters, closing bank and internet accounts, packing, and writing final reports, I had a great time savoring all of my favorite local foods the last few days. Friday it was pad Thai for lunch from the lady around the corner, and a feast of a dinner with my advisor, his family, and other students that included deep fried garlic pork balls, spicy green bean salad, hot and sour chicken coconut soup, steamed mussels, and curried crab. Saturday was fast-food Japanese for lunch and green curry with chicken for dinner. Sunday included a lunch with deep fried chicken, spicy papaya salad, and sticky rice, with a quick dinner of smoked red pork with rice and cucumber. Monday got started off right with some grilled bananas and syrup, and a lunch of papaya and pineapple, topped off by white Chinese chicken with rice. Admittedly, my last meal in Thailand this morning was a bacon, egg, and cheese at the "New York Deli" in Suvarnabhumi Airport...I just couldn't wait.

So what next for Classicalive? Well, I'll still be posting about music in Bangkok for a while because there is a lot I haven't said. For instance, did you know Thailand has a substantial new music festival that was started a few years ago by Narong Prancharoen? The Thailand Composers Festival is going on right now, with Chinary Ung as the keynote speaker and the New York New Music Ensemble the main performers. Stuff like that will still be popping up around here, and also as I bring together this larger paper I'm working on I'd like to occasionally share excerpts. Any Thai readers out there, please feel free to keep the discussion alive here about music in Bangkok.

So, after I'm done juicing the exotic Bangkok thing, what'll be my hook? Not really sure. I'm moving to Madison, Wisconsin come August, where my fiancee is starting the history PhD program at UW. Currently I'm on the market for an arts admin. position, though in the future I'll likely find myself enrolled in a graduate program of sorts at UW (admin? musicology? who knows...). I'm excited to be moving to a smaller city, especially one with a vibrant arts community that includes the Overture Center, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, and of course all of the campus groups too. And, hey, I'll be close to Chicago, land of Muti and blackbirds and more, which will be pretty awesome. So while this blog and well, my professional life, is sort of a blank slate right now, it looks like interesting things will pop up for sure.

That's the word for now, I still have 18 more hours of air time until Long Island. It has been an amazing year, but I can't say I don't hear the land of 24 hours diners and the Great South Bay calling me home.

Regietheater hits Bangkok

2008-07-07T09:54:00.010-05:00

The adventurous theater and opera company NUNi Productions mounted an original production of Donizetti's Il Campanello this past weekend alongside Pergolesi's intermezzo La Serva Padrona. The Pergolesi actually functioned as an intermezzo, something you don't see too often anymore, and director Pattarasuda Anuman Rajadhon's bold and quirky take on both buffa works ended up coalescing well. Per usual in Bangkok, costumes were excellent in this Alice in Wonderland inspired production, as was the choreography. The Bangkok Symphony Orchestra led by Yoko Takahashi provided the necessarily light and crisp accompaniment, though the unfortunate setup in the Thailand Cultural Center Small Hall inevitably led to a few balance problems. Notable from the cast was Thai baritone Saran Suebsantiwongse as Enrico; he had the crowd roaring during the patter-filled duet, "Mio signore venerato". Here are some pictures from the production, courtesy of the lovely folks at NUNi:
Wedding day celebrations with Don Annibale (William Lim) and Serafina (Monique Klongtruadroke) at the start of Il Campanello.

Enrico (Saran Suebsantiwongse) confronts his lover Serafina about her betrayal. My main quibble with the direction was the rabbit motif that seemed more Donnie Darko than Wonderland and certainly not very Donizetti at all. The only explanation we get in the director's notes is: "After listening to the opera and reading the libretto I immediately had rabbits stuck in my mind...".
La Serva Padrona played out in between numbers from Il Campanello. Here we see master Uberto (Ken Ryan) to the left and haughty servant Serpina (Catherine Sam Harsono) on the right, with Enrico and Serafina from the Donizetti miming in the middle. This all worked very well. The general idea was that Enrico and Uberto were magicians of sorts, capable of traveling between the parallel stories.
The Donizetti chorus continuing the wedding night fun.
A disguised Enrico hilariously disrupts Don Annibale's bedroom plans with an endless list of medications.

Same same, but different

2008-07-01T02:55:00.004-05:00

Khang Khao Kin Khluay translates as "bat eats banana", and today the piece is perhaps the most popular and re-interpreted of the Thai classical repertoire. As a side note, the piece was originally called Ling Tok Kador Sua, or "a monkey pulls the foreskin of the tiger's penis" (I'm not sure whether the name change took place before or after the piece became popular...). Program notes from a Bangkok Symphony Orchestra arrangement of the work say that the earliest versions were often used used "as a contrasting theme in dance drama when a comic scene was called for". Though the piece has been taken out of that context, it usually remains in the chan dio form of the traditional versions, a form that always entails fast playing and usually connotes a certain level of excitement. So, for your enjoyment if you have the time, here is a peek at three different versions of Khang Khao Kin Khluay:

1) From the movie Homrong about the early life of the great Thai master Luang Phradit Phairoh, this version is meant to come across as an innovative, daring take on the traditional but within certain classical boundaries.

2) Modern ensembles like Khun In's Off Beat Siam and Kor Phai, both of which were involved with the soundtrack to Homrong, now present their takes on the piece with amplification and other Western pop/jazz/fusion tricks. Here is a bit of the Khun In version that I posted earlier this year. It starts with a traditional piphat ensemble playing the work before the Off Beat Siam musicians take over.

3) I mentioned earlier that the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra has a version of Khang Khao Kin Khluay. Well, so does the Thailand Philharmonic, and in these two videos you can hear the ensemble conducted by Prateep Suphanroj, who also wrote the arrangement. Khun Prateep is an extremely prolific arranger of Thai classical works for Western orchestra, and they're always full of surprises while remaining charming and fairly close to the original melody and structure.

UPDATE, JULY 3: The same day I made this post, I came across another version of Khang Khao Kin Khluay played by a New Orlean's jazz band with Bruce Gaston at the piano and a solo khlui Thai [flute] carrying the melody. To add to the cross-cultural confusion, this all went down at the Tawandang German Brewery in Bangkok while I was snacking on sausages and crab spring rolls.

Alex Ross in China

2008-06-30T07:54:00.005-05:00

New Yorker critic and The Rest is Noise author Alex Ross gives us the full story on Western classical music in China this week. Much of what he has found in China is in some way relatable to what I've found in Thailand, with the essential difference being the much larger numbers involved in China's boom (though the statistics on Chinese conservatory enrollment and piano/violin students are baffling in any comparative context). Numbers aside, I was surprised reading "Symphony of Millions" that so much of what Ross experienced and discovered in China sounded and felt very familiar.

One reason for this is that historically, the introduction and development of Western classical music in China aligns fairly well with the same process in Thailand. In both countries, missionaries first brought Western music in the 17th century, the royal courts gradually took interest and in the 19th century brass bands began to pop up in the military and elsewhere. King Vajiravudh of Siam founded the Royal Symphony Orchestra in 1911 (which functions today as the National Symphony Orchestra of Thailand) with the initial help of foreign teachers like the Italian Alberto Nazari. Ross says the "first true orchestra" in China, the Shanghai Municipal Orchestra, was founded in 1919 under the direction of the Italian Mario Paci. One key difference though is that the Thai orchestra was made up of all Thai musicians, many of whom were transferred from the Thai classical music department and had to learn Western stringed instruments from scratch, while the Shanghai orchestra was reportedly mostly ex-pats. In 1927, the German-trained Xiao Youmei founded the first Western-style music school in China, while in Thailand in 1935, the half-Thai son of a German musician, Phra Chen Duriyang, founded the Witahaysakol Dontrisathan, or Western Music School, in Bangkok, in addition to a slew of Western music training academies in the Department of Fine Arts and military branches. The mid-twentieth century saw musical manipulation from the governments of both countries, though in Thailand this was generally much worse for traditional Thai music than Western forms. In China, the Central Conservatory reopened in 1978 after the death of Mao, bringing out hoards of classical musicians from hiding. Ross reports that composers such as Chen Yi and Tan Dun were in the first new class, drawing on serialism and "other novelties" while mixing in "jangling timbres of traditional Chinese music". Though Western classical music was not ever forbidden in Thailand, it suffered with the influx of Western popular forms from the 1950s onward after the U.S. made the nation its base for fighting communism in Asia. The years surrounding 1978 were also important in Thailand for composers of Western avant-garde music that fused Thai classical sounds; experimental works such as Somtow Sucharitkul's Gongula 3 premiered at the Asian Composers Festival in Bangkok that year.

While classical music in China has skyrocketed to popularity over the last thirty years, the story in Thailand has not been nearly as dramatic, partly because of unceasing economic and political problems stemming from a government that cares very little for the arts, except when it comes in tourist or museum ready packages. Still though, many elements in Ross's article feel familiar. The rowdier, enthusiastic, and oftentimes younger crowds he found at the Egg sound like those I first observed at the Thailand Cultural Center. Contributions from the ex-pat community in both places cannot be denied. The fact that university music programs are often filled with students that don't listen to, have a passion for, or aren't necessarily even studying classical music is something I've noticed here, and something Ross also notes. Bartok and his adventures in folk music have been cited as a model by almost every Thai composer I've spoken to, and that seems to be a possible trend among composers in China as well. And of course, composers in both Thailand and China must deal with the huge dichotomy between the official type of cross-cultural compositions and arrangements the government favors and the more experimental, organic mixing of Western and traditional techniques popular in academia. Furthermore, the question of whether or not to engage in such fusion genres to begin with is one I think every Asian composer has had to grapple with at some point or another. This paragraph is perhaps one of the most important in Ross's piece:

At brunch, Guo was in a sunny mood, but at one point I succeeded in annoying him. Speaking of the music of Chen Qigang, I said that its refined, free-floating timbres suggested a strong affinity between modern Chinese composition and the sound-world of Debussy and Messiaen. Guo swept his arms wide, nearly upsetting the tableware, and proclaimed, “This view shows that foreigners don’t understand China. Music here has nothing to do with France. Opposite direction. Different taste.” Then he smiled, his argument made. He held up two stubby fingers in the air, as if about to give a blessing. “I am anti-fashion. I look down on the trend. I want to escape the whole question of sounding like the West or sounding like the East. Non-European composers always have to have their cultural identity, their symbols. In Germany or France, they have real freedom. They absolutely have the freedom to write what they want. Of course”—his eyes lit up—“if they are so free, why do they end up sounding the same?”

Guo's frustration sounds familiar. All of the composers I've met have studied in America or Europe at some point, and oftentimes while abroad they face expectations of a cultural sound because of their non-Western identity. And of course, there is the problem for the Western analyst of figuring out when it is okay to place the Asian composer's music in a Western sound-world, and when a new type of hybrid analysis is needed (something that composer Christopher Adler approaches in this paper).

I could keep going with the play by play comparison for much longer, especially because I didn't even get to traditional music. However I should be working on my paper; it was just cool to read a piece that hit so close to home. As Ross began to discover, some of the hype surrounding the classical music explosion in China was not exactly well founded. I sort of created my own hype for the classical music scene in Thailand and then had a similar realization, though it hasn't meant any shortage of exciting performances and new music; the material remains endlessly fascinating, the experiences always vivid. I think the same can be said for Ross's feelings on China.

UPDATE, JULY 3: I did a lot of comparing and not much contrasting in this post, except to point out China's obvious advantage in numbers and the lack of government support for classical music in Thailand. Here are a few more key differences to think about. For starters, the media bestowed upon Western classical stars in China is practically unheard of in Thailand. One of the reasons for this is that Thailand doesn't really have classical stars, save maybe for Bundit Ungrangsee, who seems to be the one classical musician the average Bangkok Thai has heard of. Thailand is a small country, so this is to be expected, but still, it could prove crucial if say a Thai pianist or violinist were to reach international stardom. The recent sports example of Tamarine Tanasugarn is telling. She was the first Thai to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final in Wimbledon this week, putting an obscure activity with elitist connotations on the front of every Thai paper and stirring the country with pride.

The story with composition is similar. I was just talking about this yesterday with Bruce Gaston, the Western/Thai composition guru responsible for teaching most of the young composers on the Bangkok scene right now and for pushing innovation in Thai classical music with his ensemble Fong Naam. Gaston was saying that the main difference between China and Thailand is that Chinese composers have already gotten over the phase of striving for acceptance in Western eyes, of trying to make the "it" lists in New York and London with super complex, strictly Euro-American "contemporary" stuff. He noted that the Thai plastic arts are over this hump, mainly because numerous Thai artists are in prestigious international teaching posts and showing works in museums from L.A. to France and thus are less self-conscious. No Thai composer has achieved that sort of solid international acceptance and consistent attention (though some like Somtow Sucharitkul have come close, and others like Narong Prangcharoen are on their way). Meanwhile, many Chinese composers are already at that point, and have been for a while. As Ross points out, the most prominent Chinese composers are deeply attached to and experienced in Chinese traditional music from having to work in the country during the Cultural Revolution. Very few Western Thai composers are truly bi-musical, though almost all know enough Thai classical to create various fusion type compositions. Gaston's opinion is that too many Thai composers see Thai traditional music through Western eyes or don't see it at all, and in order to establish a truly solid composition scene in Thailand this needs to change.

Man, again with the running on. This topic is deadly rich. I should go, though I'm not promising I won't add another update after reading this one tomorrow and realizing how much is missing.

Die Fledermaus in Bangkok

2008-06-29T08:39:00.005-05:00

The Metropolitan Opera of Bangkok presented a thoroughly enjoyable production of Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus this past weekend at the Thailand Cultural Center Small Hall. Everything from the costumes to sets were professional and the orchestra sounded wonderful, clean and clear. Though many in the all-Thai cast were new to opera, there were still a few standout performances, namely from soprano Siriwaranya Supranee as Rosalinde and baritone Piyawat Pantana as Dr. Falke. Sophie Tanapura, founder and lead vocal coach for the Met Opera BKK singers, was a spunky Adele. The production was directed by Dr. Charles Henn, a foreign affairs guru with a penchant for opera, and it was sponsored by the Austrian Embassy.

A few cultural notes about the whole affair. I found that the Thais in the audience seemed to be laughing much more than all the farangs. There are a few reasons for this, I think. From what I've observed, the humor in Die Fledermaus is very much to Thai tastes. The simple, old fashioned, Shakespearean antics--the dress up, the goofy battle of the sexes, the transparent confusion and resolution--can be found all over Thai soaps and comedies on the big and small screens. Also, poking fun at class boundaries, something still sort of taboo to an extent in the West right now, is a dominant source of laughter here. Plus, Thais just in general always seem more up for fun and games than their more serious Western counterparts. I don't know, these are pretty crass generalizations, but they were on my mind during the show. Another reason for the Thai laugh factor was that the director opted to have the dialogue spoken in Thai as opposed to German. Judging by crowd reactions, this was a very smart move that really drew people in.

On a side note, I was at a Starbucks doing some writing before the show, and a Mac user at a nearby table was having some difficulty and saw the Mac I was using and asked for help. I was not able to help, predictably, but after getting to talking this person and her friend found out I was headed to an opera and they were alarmed to find out that one could see an opera in Thailand, they had no idea. It turns out that one of them had always wanted to see an opera, and had heard enough about it to explain to her friend that you didn't really need to know the language to understand it. The other said she had dreams of going to an opera and crying. My guess is that this was a Pretty Woman inspired fantasy. Anyway, they ditched their evening plans to go see the Angelina Jolie flick Wanted and I led them to the nearby Thailand Cultural Center. Despite being initially intimidated by the fancy pants Austrian diplomats in the crowd, I was very happy to hear at the end that they loved it, thought the singing was beautiful and that the story was hilarious. Score 2 for Strauss, Jolie 0.

Opera watch

2008-06-23T07:30:00.002-05:00

Opera has been, well, a bit limited in Bangkok over the last ten months. Bangkok Opera's Die Walkure was the big event back in November and December, but that company has been quiet on the full-scale opera front ever since, due to internal re-structuring. Upstart NUNi Productions offered "Mozart in Mischief" in the fall as well, and also recently presented the super interesting Orpheus Schemata, a "liminal theater", multi-genre, modern interpretation of the myth. The Met Opera BKK has presented a few vocal recitals with its in-house singers, and Bangkok Music Society/Orpheus Choir with soloists sang Handel's Samson on June 7. That has pretty much been it. This week and next however, Bangkok's opera scene will spring back to life. From June 24-29 at the Thailand Cultural Center Small Hall, Met Opera BKK presents Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss, and on July 4 in the same venue, NUNi Productions in cooperation with the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra presents Donizetti's Il Campanello. So it will be another curious American holiday for me, ringing in Independence Day 2008 with Italian opera in Thailand. Further down the road on July 31st, Thai singers Kittinant Chinsamran (bass-baritone) and Samitra Suwannarit (soprano) will present a selection of songs and arias by Handel, Mozart, Bellini, and Strauss at the Stock Exchange.

Eon Trio

2008-06-23T06:25:00.006-05:00

A bit delayed with this one, but on June 13 at the Stock Exchange of Thailand I had the great pleasure of attending a concert by the Eon Trio. The ensemble is comprised of Christopher Janwong McKiggan (piano - Thai/English), Ekachai Maskularat (cello - Thai), and Qiang Xiaoxiao (violin - Chinese), all young players still in conservatory. Christopher studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, while Ekachai and Qiang study at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore. The trio demonstrated the highest caliber of strictly Western classical playing I've come across in Bangkok this year, and if any of the musicians decide to make Thailand their base after graduation, they will surely be hot items, with universities and orchestras likely already eyeing them. There has been a lot of talk among musicians and presenters anticipating "the next generation" here. A handful of new ensembles and concert series are now in tact, providing more options for players and audiences alike, but many think the coming years will see a sharp increase in the quality of the work presented, as the first wave of Thai musicians studying abroad at prestigious conservatories on scholarships from Princess Galyani's Fund for Classical Music and the first graduates of the Pre-College and College of Music at Mahidol make their way onto the Bangkok scene. We'll see (or, rather, others will because I'm leaving in 3 weeks), but if the Eon Trio is any indication, the "next generation" is already sounding pretty good.

The program was smart, introducing me to two composers that I'm looking forward to listening to more of. Gaspor Cassado's 1926 Piano Trio in C Major was written in the tradition of de Falla and Ravel (two of his teachers), but this piece I think has a little more edge, dashing Spain with a little more Vienna than Paris. Swiss composer Frank Martin's Piano Trio on Popular Irish Folk Tunes may well be a new favorite chamber work for me, I'd love to have the chance to play it. The piece was written in 1925, the same period as the Cassado work and as the program notes point out, a time when every composer had his or her own interpretation of "folk". Martin's piece totally defies expectations though, making what could have been a basic exercise in transcription and adaptation into a wondrously complicated work. The Eon players handled it all with aplomb and élan. After intermission, Mendelssohn's Piano Trio in C Minor, Op. 66 brought the program to a rousing close, though the ensemble topped themselves with what I think was a Piazzolla encore. It was one of those concerts you didn't want to end. As a cellist I was sort of in awe of Ekachai's talent, as a chamber musician I was impressed and put at ease by the great communication between the players, and as a plain old audience member I just really enjoyed what I heard and saw.