Romano Prodi Promotes Europe

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. Bangkok. March 20, 2013. Romano Prodi is a distinguished European leader who was president of the European Commission at the time the Euro was adopted, and who presided over an expansion of the union. Prodi was also president of Italy two times. Trained as an economist, Prodi is a passionate believer in the European Union, and he maintains that the benefits of the union of European countries far outweighs the shortcomings that its critics see. For Prodi, the European Union has eliminated war on a continent long-accustomed to war and the cause of two world wars. Europe today is a place of political disputes, not bloody wars. Prodi also sees the union as a promoter of equality and human rights.

On the other hand, Prodi does not underestimate the problems facing the union, particularly within the euro zone. As for dissolution of the union, Prodi does not believe that his will occur, and while the outcome of Britain's anticipated referendum in 2016 to stay or leave the union, cannot be predicted at this time, Prodi points out that Britain is the only country where that uncertainty exists. The EU could benefit from a different German policy and he believes that austerity has gone too far, and that there is room to correct. 
  
The EU must be saved and its banking system must not be allowed to descend into bankruptcy, Prodi said. Prodi is for a decrease in the taxation of labor and for Europe to come to grips with its long-term problems with real solutions, not short term ones. Prodi's concept of the EU as a union of minorities is a compelling one, and one that I believe will endure. History is on the EU's side: countries going it alone in today's world are at a distinct disadvantage.

Can Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Debussy and Brahms be Boring?

Goethe Institut Auditorium. Bangkok Thailand. March 18, 2013. Can Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Debussy and Brahms be Boring? Answer: Yes, when played by American pianist Kathryn Woodard. With her head stuck in the sheet music because she either can't memorize or is insecure without the printed score to look out, Woodard gave as flat and unexpressive a performance of some very good classical music, as I remember hearing. In between numbers, she talked about why she was playing the piece to follow, or something about it, without having anything particularly interesting or beyond the commonplace, to say. As for her piano playing, it would be too cruel to say anything about it.

India Superficially Examined

India’s ambassador to Thailand (photo left) Author/Journalist C. Y. Gopinath (photo right)

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. Bangkok. March 14, 2013. Indian journalist turned novelist, C. Y. Gopinath, introduced his political satirical novel, The Book of Answers, with an assist from the Indian ambassador to Thailand, Anil Wadhwa, Although set in India, Gopinath explained that his book treated universal themes such as cheating, sex, the division between rich and poor, and gullibility. While both the author and the ambassador are serious and articulate men, neither of them shed any light on India, a fascinating subject. I found no reason to buy Gopinath’s book, fearing that it will be as superficial as he was.

The TPO Overwhelms Again

Conductor Gudni A Emilsson (photo left) and duo pianists Schiavo & Marchegiani

Mahidol University College of Music Auditorium. Nakonpathom, Thailand. March 9, 2013. I'm not a big fan of works for two pianos. After all, who needs to be reminded that the piano is a percussion instrument. But, given two sensitive players who perform a lot together and who understand the risks involved, two pianos can be a beautiful combination, especially if you add Mozart into the equation. The Italian piano duo of Schiavo and Marchegiani, are artists who seek to bring out the beauty of the composition, in this case, Mozart's very familiar Concerto No.10 for Two Pianos, and supported by the quiet playing of the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, they achieved a beautiful balance with the orchestra and between the two pianos themselves. 

I've become a big fan of the TPO, especially when conducted by its chief conductor, Gudni A. Emilsson, who deserves much of the credit for developing this orchestra into not only the finest in Thailand, but certainly among the very best of this region. With membership in the orchestra changing as students come and go, and the faculty changing as well, this is no easy task. The TPO can play anything, but it excels in the big works, where heft is a good quality to have, and the adventure of youth is able to be exercised. Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 (The Year 1905), is programmatic and, as one commentator quipped, it is a movie score without a movie. It is powerful music and Emilsson shaped it with meticulous attention to detail, while letting his musicians have full rein in those passages that distinguish the modern symphony orchestra from its classical antecedents. I was exhausted after the hour length of the symphony, and the emotional roller coaster that the score exploits. If I had closed my eyes, I could easily have been at Carnegie Hall, with Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic.

Friendship Piano Concert

Goethe-Institut Auditorium. Bangkok, Thailand. March 8, 2013. 18 piano students from four Bangkok area universities, came together for a classical evening of piano playing. They brought with them cheering sections and lots of enthusiasm, cheering and hooting. It was a pleasant change from the usually sedate atmosphere of classical music events. Each student played a short piece from the standard classical repertoire, none of it easy to play. There were some very nice moments. I particularly liked the Faure, Bartok and a Chopin nocturne. Although a very few students didn't have a musical clue about what they were playing, most were nicely musical and there weren't any real disasters, no mean feat as they all played from memory. If I had to find one adjective to describe these young musicians, I would say that they were fearless. None the less, if I were their parents, I would make sure that each of them was pursuing a dual major.

Piano Recital as Cabaret Show

Goethe Institut Auditorium. Bangkok, Thailand. March 7, 2013. In Bangkok, what you expect is not always what you get. Sometimes that can be disappointing, but at other times, it can be a pleasant surprise. Australian Ambre Hammond was billed as a world-class pianist with competition wins to her credit. In fact, she's an awful pianist, a murderer of the works of Chopin and Liszt, in spite of the fact that she has a very good technique. However, she's beautiful and charming, and a captivating story-teller. Upon seeing the pathetically small audience at her recital, she must have decided that her time was better spent telling stories about herself and about the music. She was entertaining and totally charming. She would be well-advised to continue emphasizing her ability to charm and entertain. Her next project is to put a piano in a truck and drive it to rural villages in India and elsewhere to give her listeners their first taste of live classical music. After Bangkok, she is going to East Timor to perform. She's definitely on the right track.

The Golden Age of Piano via Unknown Composers

Goethe Institut Auditorium.  Bangkok, Thailand.  March 4, 2013.  Pianist Ernest So, born in Hong Kong, educated largely in the US (Julliard), and now living in London, made his second appearance in Bangkok within a year, to present another fascinating musical journey.  Based on these two lecture-recitals, So specializes in bringing attention to composers whom no one has heard of, or who are rarely played, such as Sergei Bortiewicz, Julian Aguire, Louis Aubert, etc. (you get the point).  What makes the dapper So’s events so enjoyable, is that he provides fascinating and relevant information about the composers and the works he is about to play, and that he plays the piano so well.  He ties the evening together with unifying and clever themes, such as tonight’s program entitled “The Golden Age of Piano,” in which he related very famous pianists of the 20^th century to the unknown compositions So played.  Not exactly a recital, and not exactly a lecture, it was what Jeffrey Siegel calls his own programs:  keyboard conversations.  I hope So makes his Bangkok visits yearly events.

An Evening with Young Pianists

Dolpiti Kongviwatanakul, age 16 (photo right) , and Watcharit Kerdchuen, age 18 (photo left) after their Bangkok debut recital.

SET Auditorium. Bangkok, Thailand. March 1, 2013. Dolpiti Kongviwatanakul, age 16, and Watcharit Kerdchuen, age 18, are two very talented Thai pianists, who made their debut sharing a recital program of works from Bach to Bartok. Eager and enthusiastic, they showed yet again that Thailand is abound in musical talent. Both pianists have applied to study at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore, this area's premier music conservatory, after which, many graduates go on to Western music capitals for further training. Dolpiti's performance of Sonata No. 3 by Prokofiev showed real promise, and his playing of Chopin's Scherzo No. 4 was very beautiful. Good luck to both of them.

TPO’s Sunlight and Shadows Concert

American violist Juliet White-Smith (left), and the TPO’s Norwegian guest conductor Terje Mikkelsen (right).

 Music Auditorium. College of Music. Mahidol University. Nakompathom, Thailand. February 23, 2013. The only other time I heard William Walton's Viola Concerto in a minor, was decades ago in Aspen, when it was played by the great, and then very old violist, Lillian Fuchs. I remember not liking the concerto very much, but since then, my musical horizons have greatly broadened, and I can now understand why Walton was considered a conservative composer during this lifetime (1902-1983). At any rate, I downloaded the concerto and listened to it three or four times before its performance by the American violist Juliet White-Smith, and the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra lead by Norwegian guest conductor Terje Mikkelsen, and by that time, I not only liked the concerto, but I wondered how I could ever have thought it too modern for my tastes. I can't say that Juliet White-Smith produced an especially beautiful sound, the deep, brooding tone I look for from a viola, but she executed this difficult work with skill and assurance, and was accompanied by thorough support from the orchestra.

The surprise of this concert was the perfectly gorgeous performance of Beethoven's 5^th Symphony, an icon of the Western classical music canon, and so frequently played that I would have preferred the orchestra to have selected some other Beethoven symphony, say, the 6^th. As is the modern performance standard, Mikkelsen played the symphony very fast, but the orchestra was up to his pace and didn't miss a detail, although a few of the brass upper notes went missing a few times. The TPO is a very fine orchestra, but I attribute this surpassing performance to Mikkelsen's sure direction, as well as the enthusiasm of the orchestra's mostly young players.