Somtow Sucharitkul realised what his next opera production should be when he was speaking with one of his students.
Somtow, the artistic director of Opera Siam, discovered that the student knew nothing about World War II. "Not only did he not know that Thailand entered the war on the side of the Axis," he said. "But also he didn't really know who Hitler was, and he had certainly never heard of the Holocaust."
Somtow felt Brundibár would be an ideal way of introducing young Thais to the realities of that harrowing chapter in history. It might seem an odd choice, as Brundibár is a simple folk tale, with a plot following two poor children as they unsuccessfully try to earn money to buy milk for their sick mother. Three animals — a sparrow, a cat and a dog — promise to help them. With the children of the village, they successfully sing a song, collect money and drive out the evil and tyrannical organ-grinder Brundibár.
Despite its happy ending, the opera is irrevocably associated with its tragic history. The production's Czech composer, Hans Krása, and director Kurt Gerron were sent by the Nazis to the Terezin (Theresienstadt) concentration camp. There, they mounted 55 performances of Krása's opera, after which nearly the entire cast of children, together with the musicians, the director and the composer, were sent to Auschwitz and killed.
Somtow's direction of the opera, staged at Thailand Cultural Centre in late January, and produced in collaboration with the embassies of Israel, Germany and the Czech Republic, reminded audiences of this tragic history in a variety of ways. The opera is only approximately 40 minutes long, so it was preceded by a concert of songs and music written by some of the prisoners of Terezin, both adults and children. Songs and instrumental music of haunting beauty were expertly performed by Monique Klongtruadroke, Kangsadan Kroekkamon, Jak Cholvijarn and Saran Senavinin, and accompanied by pianist Kant Lormsomboon and a talented chamber group of young musicians from the Siam Sinfonietta. Poems written by child inmates of the camp were read by some of the children from the opera's cast. It was almost unbearably moving. Further reminders of the opera's tragic history were the framing of the simple set, a recreation of the iconic Auschwitz entrance gate, with its slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("Work makes you free"), and the striped uniform of Auschwitz worn by the performers.
In the principal roles, Opera Siam's young soloists combined naive charm with professional-calibre performances. Rit Parnichkun and Thalassa Tapiano-Ruano, as siblings Pepicek and Aninka, acted and sang touchingly. Andrew Doran was an effectively bullying Brundibár, who also sang clearly and confidently. The best singing came from Areeya Rotjanadit and Karrell Gallenero as the Cat and the Dog, while Ruby Suito Ong was wonderfully avian as the inquisitive Sparrow.
Conductors in some productions have imposed a false portentousness on the music by observing the host of ritardandi markings that the score has accreted over time. This introduces a lugubriousness to the music that is quite contradictory to its spirit.
But that was never an issue with Trisdee Na Patalung's admirable musical direction, leading the singers and the excellent chamber orchestra in a brisk and cheerful performance. That cheerfulness, combined with knowledge of the fate of the original cast, made for a poignant occasion. It was a profoundly emotional reminder of man's inhumanity to man, as well as the extraordinary spirit, courage and creativity that can flourish in the most terrible of situations.
Michael Proudfoot is a British writer on opera and a former Head of the School of Humanities at the University of Reading in England.
