Opera with Dental Floss

Acknowledging enthusiastic applause: pianist Trisdee na Patalong (left), mezzo soprano Laura Woods (middle), and baritone Jonathan Pugsley (right).

Asvanant Dental Clinic. Bangkok, Thailand. May 13, 2011. With the Bangkok audience for classical music being as small as it is, you never know where you’re going to end up attending a classical music event. Large halls or auditoriums are seldom required. So, it was perfectly natural and unsurprising for Opera Siam to schedule a voice recital at a downtown Bangkok dental clinic. Asvanant Dental Clinic has a very pleasant and amble meeting room on its fifth floor, which was easily converted into a recital arena by the addition of a small stage and a Kawai baby grand piano. After passing through a lobby filled with patients awaiting root canal jobs, the 20 of us or so who attended, were first offered food and drink, and were then shown into the meeting room where we were greeted by famed writer, conductor and composer, Somtow Sucharitkul, Opera Siam’s Musical Director.

Two excellent opera singers, baritone Jonathan Pugsley, and mezzo soprano Laura Woods, both of whom have international opera careers, sang a collection of bel canto arias from operas of Handel, Bellini and Donizetti, and romantic blockbusters of Verdi and Leoncavallo. Their strong and polished voices were accompanied on the piano by the Siam Philharmonic Orchestra’s resident conductor, Trisdee na Patalung, who is a superb pianist in his own right. By way of introduction, Kh. Somtow provided commentary about the operas, and with his vast storehouse of knowledge, his insights added to the enjoyment of the music. My hat is off to these two marvelous singers, who, despite the embarrassingly small audience, successfully performed with no less energy and involvement in the music, than they would have done had they had a full house at the Met. That's what's known as professionalism.

(Above) Somtow Sucharitkul, Opera Siam’s Musical Director, provided informal commentary about the operas.