The Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra will present a feast of Austrian, French, Italian and English opera to mark HM Queen Sirikit's 85th birthday, at the Main Hall of the Thailand Cultural Centre, Ratchadaphisek Road, on Friday at 8pm.
The celebratory concert will feature popular highlights rendered by German soprano Dorothea Herbert and notable Thai/Australian tenor Benjamin Dooley. RBSO's long-standing principal oboist Damrih Banawitayakit will direct the orchestra in a multi-national programme of solo arias and duets from the core repertoire.
The evening will start with The Arrival Of The Queen Of Sheba by Handel, followed by a lush Viennese theme in Lehar's solo arias Meine Lippen Sie Küssen So Heiss (from Giuditta) and Dein Ist Mein Ganzes Herz.
Brindisi from Verdi's La Traviata will then be presented as a vocal duet. Dooley's voice will also find dramatic expression in renditions of Puccini's E Lucevan Le Stelle from Tosca and Nessun Dorma from Turandot.
RBSO's concertmaster Siripong Tiptan will be given another solo spot of his own in the instrumental number Meditation from Massenet's opera Thaïs. The concert will conclude with Verdi's Grand March from Aida.
Tickets cost 300, 700, 900, 1,200 and 1,500 baht, and can be purchased from Thai Ticket Major (www.thaiticketmajor.com, or call 02-262-3456).
Visit www.bangkoksymphony.org or call 02-255-6617/8.
Benjamin Dooley. Bangkok Symphony Orchestra Foundation
Dorothea Herbert. photos courtesy of Bangkok Symphony Orchestra Foundation
Dorothea Herbert. Bangkok Symphony Orchestra Foundation
Dorothea Herbert. Bangkok Symphony Orchestra Foundation
