Mahidol University's College of Music has teamed up with the Comite Solidarite Franco-Thai to present three performances next month of Mozart's Thamos, King Of Egypt (K345) by the Mahidol University Baroque Choir and Orchestra under the baton of Henri Pompidor.
Mahidol University Baroque Choir and Orchestra will give three performances next month of the only music Mozart composed for a play.
The concerts will take place at Mahidol College of Music (Salaya campus) on Feb 15, starting at 7pm, and at Alliance Francaise Bangkok on Feb 16 (at 8pm) and Feb 17 (at 4pm).
Mozart loved the theatre in every form, but wrote incidental music for only one play. The distinguished playwright Baron von Gebler asked Mozart to write music for performances of his five-act drama Thamos, Konig In Agypten in Vienna in April 1774.
When the play was staged in Salzburg in January 1776, Mozart added orchestral interludes. He revised this music yet again in 1779, for performances in Salzburg by Johann Heinrich Bohm's company.
Thamos, Konig In Agypten is a masonic allegory and, though not yet a freemason himself, Mozart gave it much of the expressive symbolism he later lavished on The Magic Flute. This is particularly apparent in the first Interlude, with its richly rhetorical chords, slippery chromaticism, muscular tension, and its contrast of light and dark.
Tickets for the concert at Mahidol University cost 200 baht (100 baht for students) while those for the shows at Alliance Francaise will cost 500 baht (150 baht for students). For reservations, contact Mahidol College of Music on 02-800-2525 ext 154/5 or Alliance Francaise on 082-2161-4359.
Henri Pompidor.
