Supported by the Tourism Authority of Thailand and B.Grimm, the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra recently broke exciting new ground with two sold-out nights at the Thailand Cultural Centre.
They treated the most enthusiastic audience imaginable to a wondrous musical journey through the stylistically diverse world of Japanese anime. The visual expression of this art form has long been popular in Japan and abroad, with an incredibly diverse spectrum of musical responses garnering fans of all ages and backgrounds for decades.
Maestro Naohisa Furusawa from Tokyo, one of the very finest exponents of this refreshing genre, conducted the RBSO with flair and elegance which inspired the very best from a fine-sounding orchestra enlarged by a rock band and extra keyboards.
The first half of the show was dedicated solely to Joe Hisaishi, legendary composer of over 100 film scores who is known particularly for his long-standing relationship with filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. (Indeed, their fruitful partnership has been compared to that of Steven Spielberg and John Williams.)
Two large screens on either side of the musicians provided colourful imagery for each work, which began in intense stillness with One Summer's Day. Featuring refined playing of poise and control by pianist Sasipa Rasmidatta, who was supported by an exquisitely hushed string section, a sublime calmness filled the hall as a packed audience was drawn into this captivating sound world.
Kiki's Delivery Service changed the pace markedly, with an upbeat rhythmic drive showcasing concertmaster Bing Han in the first of a number of violin solos. Playful, quirky, dance-like patterns were answered by a sonorous folk-like tune for the violas. Anime music is characterised by a sense of positivity and engrossing joyfulness, but many diverse stylistic influences can be traced through its panoply of emotional expressions -- from hypnotic New Age simplicity to modern classical minimalism, from sometimes raucous jazz/rock-infused outbursts to delightfully delicate, neo-classical tinged pastiche.
Always a sound world of pleasing contrasts, Kimi Wo Nosete (from the film Laputa) itself started with a mild dissonance to catch the attention of the ear before giving way to a soothing string unison.
Following this was the highlight, a multiple-movement epic titled My Neighbor Totoro. Anime music reflects intricate, human storylines, and for this emotional fable, longtime presenter of the RBSO, Apichart Intravisit, was himself centre stage performing as narrator. With this eloquent telling of a well-known story of magical adventure from the 1950s, Apichart truly had the audience in the palm of his hand.
The piece interestingly opened with an educational section-by-section description of the orchestra's woodwind/brass/strings/percussion, with each sub-section standing up in turn in a truncated version of The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra. Tuba player Teerapat Dacha had a special moment in the spotlight as the depths of his instrument described the humorous narrative at that juncture and he was later centre stage himself for the entertaining encore segment.
The second half of this brilliant programme consisted of individual anime works by six other successful composers from this adored genre of uplifting, varied, visually inspired music -- Space Battleship Yamato Suite by Hiroshi Miyagawa; Grave Of The Fireflies by Michio Mamiya; One Piece Suite: To The Grand Line and I'm Becoming The Pirate King by Kohei Tanaka; Departure To The Front Lines by Yasuharu Takanashi; Kamado Tanjirou No Uta (Demon Slayer) by Go Shiina; and Attack On Titan – Intro & Vogel Im Käfig by Hiroyuki Sawano.
During the encore of the last piece, conductor Furusawa had the entire auditorium scream out the hero's name, "YEAGER!" -- an expression of energised enjoyment which perhaps best summed up the spirit of the whole performance.
There are many ways to consistently fill a concert hall in the modern marketplace, but make no doubt about it, anime is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser of immense popular appeal. It is hoped that, having succeeded with this particular formula, anime is to be repeated by the RBSO again and again.
Conductor Naohisa Furusawa.
