TPO 8th Season Opening Concert

Music Auditorium College of Music. Mahidol Salaya Campus. Nakom Prathom, Thailand. November 10, 2010. One hallmark of the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra is consistency: the TPO can always be counted on to play very well. That this could occur in the very first concert of the 2012-13 season, with major changes in the personnel of the orchestra, which, after all, includes students who do graduate and need to be replaced, as well as changes in the faculty members, is a testament to the solidity of this musical organization and its permanent conduct, Gudni A. Emilsson, who has been guiding the TPO every year since its inception. Yes, there were some rough spots and some slight insecurity during the two major works, Tchaikovky's Violin Concerto and Symphony No. 6 ("Pathetique"), and the violins need some additional practice at unity, and the brass need some rebalancing so that they don't overwhelm, but these are things that Emisson will accomplish in short order. What remains from last year's magnificent season cannot be destroyed: superb musicianship and unbounded energy and enthusiasm (you can feel the joy of youth). The violin soloist from Kazakhstan, Aiman Mussakhajayeva, (photo left above at autograph signing following concert) gave a robust performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, with all the strength and beauty I've come to expect from artists from that part of the world, who are trained in Russia.