A German Quintet Braves Bangkok's Floods

Ma'alot's German musicians are pleased with the full house they drew in Bangkok

Goethe Institut. Bangkok,Thailand. November 16, 2011. Billed as a leading international chamber music ensemble, the Ma'alot Quintet, a wind ensemble from Germany, happily included Bangkok on its Southeast Asian tour of Jakarta, Singapore, Ho Chi Min City and Hanoi. This was greatly appreciated as it was one of the very few musical events not canceled during the flood crisis, and Ma'alot’s bravery was rewarded by a most unusual, perhaps unprecedented occurrence: a totally filled Goethe Institut auditorium, which necessitated extra seats being brought in and, ultimately, concert-goers standing along the walls.

Consisting of oboe, flute, clarinet, bassoon and French horn, the Ma'alot Quintet produces an unfamiliar sound, but the excellence of its players and their long years playing together, showed that good music can come in many forms. Not much music has been composed for this combination of instruments, so of the four works on the program, half of them were transcriptions of Mozart and Piazzolla. The most successful performance of the evening was of Gyorgy Ligeti's Six Bagatelles, arranged by the composer himself. There is something to be said for authenticity.