Piano Concerto of Siam. Bad Experience with Beautiful Music.

Chulalongkorn University Auditorium.  Bangkok, Thailand.  July 27, 2013.  The organizers of this concert must have done something right, and whatever it was, they should pass the secret of their success on to other performing venues for classical music in Bangkok:  on a very hot Saturday afternoon, they filled Chula’s 1,754-seat auditorium to capacity with a diverse audience of all ages, ready to listen to the premier of an unknown work, Piano Concerto of Siam.

 But, alas, their success was partly to blame for the miserable experience I had.  To begin with, like all other venues in Thailand, with the blessed exception of Mahidol’s music auditorium, late-comers are seated as they arrive.  No other country in the world permits this.  Even if they try to be quiet, the disruption is significant.  As for the late-comer in the row behind me, the fact that the performance was under way did not stop her from talking, loudly, until she was firmly in her seat.  Never mind.  All she did was overpower the cell phone conversation that some lady was having a few rows ahead of me.  As for the music being played on the stage, being a chamber work for string orchestra with piano solo, I heard it only dimly because the air-conditioning system, which under these circumstances, had the volume equivalent of jet engines, diminished the orchestra and piano to the point where they could have been playing at the TCC many miles away.  I assume that I got the brunt of the industrial-strength AC because I was sitting in one of the back rows.  When the intermission occurred, I left, partly influenced by the fact that I knew the large audience would take time to seat itself after the intermission, replete with the usual large number of late-comers.

 

Piano Concerto of Siam had its debut at Chulalongkorn University Auditorium on July 27, 2013

What a happy surprise it was to be given, along with all attendees, a CD of the Piano Concerto of Siam.  I’ve listened to it several times now and can confirm what I suspected from the aborted live performance at Chula:  this is a very beautiful music composition.  While it is based on Thai folk songs, it goes beyond being an arrangement; rather it is an original and modern composition using folk songs as a base or inspiration, in the same way as almost every great composer I can think of has used folk music.  Rather than being a showcase for a piano soloist, Piano Concerto of Siam gives the piano a much less prominent role than traditional piano concerti do; it is almost like a chamber orchestra piece with piano obbligato.  Regardless of how one want to analyze it, this is gorgeous music which deserves to be heard.  I’ve transferred the CD to MP3 format and have been listening to Concerto of Siam on several devices.  I already have a favorite of the seven concerti.

For a detailed and professional commentary of the Chula performance I attended, I am reproducing below, Dr. Tretip Kamolsiri’s (herself a super pianist) excellent and informative article in The Bangkok Post of August 1, 2013:

CONCERT REVIEW

Piano Concerto Of Siam a brilliant success

Published: 1/08/2013 at 12:00 AM The Bangkok Post 

In many aspects, chiefly academic and aesthetic, Prof Dr Narongrit Dhamabutra's Piano Concerto Of Siam was a big success at its world premiere at Chulalongkorn University auditorium last Saturday.

Prof Natchar Pancharoen plays with Chulalongkorn University Symphony Orchestra.

The concerto has set another musical milestone for the Thai contemporary classical music circle since it doesn't only incorporate, but also truly maintains, the genuine traditional Thai music idioms.

The significant historical path of this masterpiece made it even more unique. Based on seven well-known traditional Thai tunes, Piano Concerto Of Siam reaches and connects to the homegrown audience.

Asst Prof Nora-ath Chanklaum led approximately 50 members of Chulalongkorn University String Orchestra for the premiere, with Prof Natchar Pancharoen returning to the stage as a soloist after her two-year sabbatical. The concerto is made up of seven concerts _ Saratee, Saiyoke, Lao Pan, Phaya Soke, Somsongsang, Nok Khamin and Fon Ngiew. In his composition, Narongrit beautifully and carefully retains Col Choochart Pitaksakorn's original arrangements of the traditional Thai songs written for piano solo.

The soloist's prototype piano-playing combined with Narongrit's profound orchestration created an exquisite sound and sonority resulting from the impeccable blending between the two musical idioms.

The first half of the programme consisted of three concerti, Saratee, Saiyoke and Lao Pan. Narongrit created an opening part by having the whole orchestra establishing a fast rhythmic section in Saratee Concerto, the first number of the set. Prof Natchar's first entrance embroidered the slow melismatic lyrical melody of the hwan section with a subtle and beautiful individual style of piano playing. The smooth sound of her repeated notes and elaborate embellishments left the audience wondering with pleasing curiosity. Her tender yet decisive playing hypnotised her audience throughout the programme. The different musical dimensions of sound, texture, tone and colour occurred throughout the whole set of concerti were wonderful, especially when soloist(s), instrument sections and the whole orchestra interplayed and harmonised between each other. Beautiful counter melodies were passing and crossing from one to another instrument creating particular characters of musical sound and texture.

In the second part, Saiyoke Concerto, Narongrit painted the beautiful atmosphere of Sai Yoke waterfall with a palette of sounds. Ruaychai Saengow, a young concert master, delivered expressively in the opening of this much-loved melody. Percussion was added and created a contrasting and different ambience for crashing, murmuring water.

Professionally active as a front-row-cellist, Apichai Leamthong performed as another soloist in Lao Pan Concerto, one of the two double concerto.

With a deeply sweet but sorrowful tone, Apichai played his role wonderfully while communicating with the piano and with the orchestra.

The closing section, Oak Sum, was brilliant and exciting both in terms of performance and compositional aspects. The harmonic intensity was carried throughout the piece by a series of dissonance notes until it resolved to the simple diatonic consonance. Professor Natchar delivered her unison part with great precision, clarity and daring, exciting speed.

Phaya Soke Concerto sits next to Lao Pan Concerto as another fascinating double concerto. Promising oboe and English horn soloist Nattha Kuankajorn expressed her rendition through beautiful long phrases and projected tone. Apart from Col Choochart's original piano version, Narongrit created for the orchestra an introduction, interlude and closing sections. They perfectly enhanced the piano part and offered the audience a rainbow of sounds and texture in every way that a string orchestra could offer. In the faster, more intense keb section, it was fascinating to hear the baroque polyphonic texture intertwined with the beautiful Thai melody. Some members of the audience must have hummed along when Prof Natchar rendered one of the most well-known Thai traditional tunes, Lao Duang Duean. The orchestra ended the piece with a fast and exciting passage and a dramatic crescendo.

The last two numbers were the Nok Khamin Concerto and Fon Ngiew Concerto. A bright and brief folk-like ending for the whole collection, Fon Ngiew Concerto was cheerful and enjoyable.

Gen Prem Tinsulanonda, head of the Privy Council, graciously presented the bouquet to performers. Fittingly, Narongrit's Piano Concerto Of Siam clearly exhibits his individual craftsmanship in music and his expertise to create, develop and expand the nation's musical heritage through his advanced Western-trained compositional technique. This masterpiece certainly could has a right to represent the country as a musical ambassador at international level. It is hoped that there will be more opportunity in the future to make this piece known both at the national and international levels.