Expat in Bangkok: May 2013

Exhibition Designing a Happy Journey

Thailand Creative and Design Center. The Emporium. Bangkok, Thailand. May 19, 2013. In 1987, Japan privatized its government-owned rail transportation system. One of the resulting private companies is the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu), which operates throughout Japan's second largest island of

Kyushu, an island I visited some 45 years ago. I remember it as a beautiful rural island, which I approached by boat after a sublime trip on the Inland Sea. The purpose of this exhibit was to show how, over the last 25 years, JR Kyushu's hiring of designer Eiji Mitooka, has resulted in the origination and execution of designs which integrate local materials, arts, nature and regional history into the rail journey, especially in the design of about 30 trains. The objective, according to JR Kyushu, is that just riding the train itself becomes the main purpose of the journey. Judging by the photos in the exhibit, I think that JR Kyushu has succeeded admirably. My wish is that those in charge of America's airlines would do the same.

The Swiss Have Good Exports---Christina Harnisch is not One of Them

Goethe Institut Auditorium. Bangkok, Thailand. May 16, 2013. In the worst public piano playing I've ever heard in Bangkok, Swiss pianist Christina Harnisch was embarrassing to watch struggle through Chopin's Sonata No. 2. Simply put, this dear lady just doesn't play the piano well enough to perform this well-known, difficult work before a paying audience. It wasn't that she played it poorly; rather, she couldn't play it at all. The mystery is why she would play in public; surely, she knew how terrible she is. After the sonata, the fellow sitting next to me commented: "That was painful." Not much harm was done, however: there were only 15 in the audience, and another person and myself didn't return after the intermission. The Swiss ambassador was among the 13 who stayed to the end. If I were him, I would keep Harnisch in Switzerland unless she promised not to play the piano abroad.

TPO Presents 200 Years of Richard Wagner

Music Auditorium College of Music. Mahidol Salaya. Nakhom Pathom, Thailand. May 11, 2013. I don't much like the sound of the alto saxophone as a solo instrument, but as played enthusiastically by 26-year old Thai saxophonist Supat Hanpatanachai, his youth and exuberance made up for any deficiencies one would have found in Pierre Max Dubois (1930-1995) Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra. I've never heard of Dubois, but, according to the program notes, this French composer studied with Darius Mihaud and I could hear some suggestions of Mihaud in parts of this light and very listenable concerto, which was ably played by Supat, who is now continuing his musical studies in Montreal. (Photo above: Thai alto saxohphonist Supat Hanpatanachi signs autographs following his performance).

The remainder of the program was devoted to four short works of Wagner, all well-know and all well-played. Whatever the orchestra lacks in sheer numbers of players, it more than made up for by the energy expended by the talented musicians under the direction of Claude Villaret, whose accurate, but restrained conducting, was responded to beautifully by this fine orchestra.

Piano Duo Kiyotaka Izumi and Polina Cernova Come to Bangkok

Piano duo Izumi (left) & Chernova (middle) with local pianist Jack Russell Hester (right) who presented flowers to the performers following their Bangkok recital.

Goethe Auditorium. Bangkok, Thailand. May 10, 2013. Because the pianists who come to Bangkok are seldom known beyond their local areas, one never knows what one will hear. Japanese pianist Koyotaka Izumi and Russian Polina Cernova, are now resident in Belgium, where they teach piano. It was immediately evident that they had together performed the tricky piano duo repertory for a long time. Rather than two pianists going their separate ways, as can easily happen without extensive practice as a duo over a long period of time, Izumi and Cernova sounded as one, a clear indication that they had thought out well in advance, exactly how they wanted each piece to sound The musically most demanding work on the program was Robert Schumann's Bilder aus Osten, opus 66, which Schumann wrote for piano four hands, and to me it sounded the most beautiful. The remainder of the program consisted of well-know orchestral works which Brahms and Liszt had transcribed for piano four hands, no doubt in order to sell their music. The problem with these arrangements is that anyone who is familiar with the pieces, inevitably hears the orchestra, and even as well-played as they were in the capable hands of Izumi and Cernova, four hands on the keyboard do not quite come up to the orchestral originals.

My Day in Seoul, South Korea

Seoul, South Korea. April 27, 2013. After changing planes in Inchon many times over many years, I decided to break my journey to/from Bangkok to the United States, by spending a day in South Korea's modern and impressive capital. It was an interesting day well-spent in a capital city of over 10 million people.

Cherry blossoms were still in bloom when I visited Seoul on June 27.

Jogyesa Temple is the center of Zen Buddhism in Korea, and is famous for being located in the heart of Seoul.

In front of the National Folk Museum, which is located within Gyeong Bok Gung Palace, Seoul.

Entrance to the National Folk Museum (another view).

Korean school children beautifully dressed and all with electronic devices of one sort or another, within the National Folk Museum.

Residential room within the Gyeong Bok Gung Palace, Seoul.

A bedroom within the palace.

Hall where the king held daily morning meetings with his officials, and presided over seminars on state affairs.

Pavilion where the king threw formal banquets for foreign envoys.

Government offices located within Gyeong Bok Gung Palace, Seoul.

The main throne hall.

The magnificent ceiling of the throne hall.

The main gate of the palace where the changing of the guards takes place.

My favorite picture of the trip. Yes, the guard is for real.

Walking to view the Korean president’s house, I came across this group of soldier.

The Blue House is the executive office and official residence of the South Korean head of state, the President of the Republic of Korea. The current president is Korea’s first female head of state

The throne hall building of Chandeokgung Palace, Seoul.

The throne hall.

Traditional architecture typical of the many palace buildings.

A modern meeting room within the Chandeokgung Palace, Seoul.

A beautiful part of the palace.

. In Namdaemun Market, Seoul, a shop selling traditional calligraphy brushes.

Namdaemun Market, in the heart of Seoul, is a bustling main street with many side streets, selling everything from traditional art to modern trash from China. The numerous food vendors were particularly enticing.