culture vulture

HELLO, I MUST BE GOING

Thaya Kongpakpaisarn

- Time to say goodbye

It was a sad farewell last Saturday night at the Thailand Cultural Centre. Thaya Kongpakpaisarn gave his "Farewell" recital - he's leaving in August to study for a degree in piano in Rochester, New York. He played brilliantly, of course. We've come to expect that from him, despite his young years. One can only look forward to the day when he comes back. He'll probably be offering us the Rachmaninoff concertos!

- Festival is back

Bangkok's International Festival of Dance & Music is back for its 11th season and will be offering a choice of 16 productions from September 7 to October 17. Since its inception in 1998, the festival has aimed to bring the best dance and music productions from around the world to Bangkok. Will keep you posted on the festival's events.

- Some Asian firsts

The recent multicultural production of the opera Thais was, as far as anyone can tell, the first production of that French opera in Asia, and the first production of a Massenet opera in Asia. Thailand is truly an operatic hub. Bangkok Opera is to be congratulated on its fine success.

- Somtow on Somtow

Much of the credit for Thais must go to Somtow Sucharitkul - the "terrifying Thai". We were impertinent enough to ask the maestro what, to his mind, was an opera and why did Bangkok need them? He said: "Opera is about heightened reality. The fact that music is used to tell a story means that we cut through the logic and verbal systems of the left brain and directly engage the right brain, the home of the instincts and of the deepest wellsprings of creativity. This is why opera reaches people in the deepest part of their being where plays, novels, films and poetry can't reach, and why opera is really the most international artistic medium. Every civilisation in the world has something that can be identified as opera, and Thailand has likay and khon, which are forms of opera. What is new in Bangkok, and why Western media are so interested in us, is that we are saying new things here, finding fresh interpretations of things they may think have been done to death, but whose power is being rejuvenated here. Other nearby countries, perhaps owing to their colonial history, have done opera but it often tends to be in watered-down or outdated interpretations. What we are doing in Bangkok is different; we are rediscovering and reinventing."

What's up next for Bangkok Opera? La Boheme, according to Somtow. "This is coming soon with the same team that brought you the 2007 Butterfly".

The maestro is also working on a requiem for HRH the late Princess Galyani Vadhana. "It has taken me 18 months to compose so far. It requires about 200 performers and it is a 'big work' I suppose ... I can't think of a bigger one composed by a Thai offhand. The Thai premiere will take place in the ABAC Cathedral because it has been composed specifically with the size and acoustics of that lovely building in mind. I've been offered a European premiere in Olomouc, the Czech Republic, as well."

Has the government been supportive? "More so than before. The people up top are very sympathetic especially since we are one of the few successful endeavours that attracts high-end tourism. Where we get bogged down is not in government policy but in the inter-office politics ..."

Email the Culture Vulture at wilgus@gmail.com.