Say Goodbye to Backpackers

Bangkok, Thailand.  August 21, 2012.  Thailand is a major world destination for backpackers, but here’s a new one on me:  they are

no longer called “backpackers.”  Now, they are known as flashpackers—high-tech, socially connected young travelers.  In fact, with the amount of time they spend buried in electronic gear, I don’t know why they bother to leave home in the first place. 

Young Pianists Play Big

(Photo left to right: Nattawat Luxsuwong (age 13), Gun Chaikittiwatana (age 17), and Chanakan Chaikittiwatana (age 17)). 

  Siam Society Auditorium.  Bangkok, Thailand.  August 16, 2014.  Economists classify Thailand as a middle income country.  However that may be, in the world of young pianists, Thailand is an advanced country.  Irrefutable proof of this was provided Saturday night by Chanakan Chaikittiwatana (age 17), Nattawat Luxsuwong (age 13) and Gun Chaikittiwatana (age 17), who presented a long and difficult program of some of the best known works in the piano literature.  All three recitalists had distinct musical personalities, but in common, they shared a surprisingly mature command of nuances that could easily escape much older performers.  They are not only immensely talented, but they are also accomplished.  Because they are so young, they naturally like to show their mettle with big works requiring blazing techniques, and this they did with assurance; they are fearless, but not reckless, and seemingly tossed off, with success, some of the greatest challenges of the piano repertory, and in the quieter parts of their programs, they showed a musical soul that is sure to expand over the years.  

A Paris Salon in Bangkok.

Masterful Japanese pianist, Jun Komatsu, who now lives and teaches in Bangkok, beautifully performed a recital of both classical Western composers and contemporary Japanese compositions. 

Bangkok, Thailand.  August 15, 2014.  19th Century Paris was famous for its salons, and one’s place in society was judged, in part, on which salons you were invited to attend.  Well, Bangkok now has a musical salon, and I was invited to its forth event, a delightful afternoon of good conversation, food,

and a beautiful recital by the most excellent and charming Japanese pianist, Jun Komatsu, who played a full program of Bach (Italian Concerto), Beethoven (Pathetique) and Schuman-Liszt (Widmung), followed by three compositions of contemporary Japanese composers, which, in the masterful hands of Komatsu, were easy to listen to, in what otherwise could have been strange sounds to my untutored ears.  Komatsu will repeat this program in Japan in a week or two, and her audiences are in for a real treat.  

Violin & Viola. Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra. MACM. Mahidol Salaya Campus. Nakhom Pathom. August 9, 2014.

 Russian violinist Boris Brovtsyn teamed up with American violist Jennifer Stumm, for a flowing rendition of Mozart’s Sinfornia Concertante, K.364

  Oh, what a difference a week and a change of conductor can make.  Back under the baton of chief conductor Gudni A. Emilsson, who has lead the TPO since its inception,  the orchestra regained its élan and gave an impressive performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8, just at the right tempo and with all sections playing beautifully and in balance, not an easy fete in this auditorium.  Emilsson, active on the podium, but not too much so as to distract, had a clear vision of what he wanted this lively symphony to sound like, and his orchestra responded fully.  Russian violinist Boris Brovtsyn teamed up with American violist Jennifer Stumm, for a flowing rendition of Mozart’s Sinfornia Concertante, K.364, surely as beautiful a piece of music as Mozart has written, with the TPO providing subtle and sensitive support.    

Paganini Rhapsody. Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra. MACM. Mahidol Salaya Campus. Nakhom Phathom. August 2, 2014.

German pianist Alexander Reitenbach

 This is not the TPO’s most stellar season.  While the orchestra continues to sound very good, certainly the best Thailand has to offer, it’s annual change of personnel as some student players graduate and are replaced, may have taken an unusually heavy toll this year.  The move to the cavernous Prince Mahidol Hall, in which the orchestra’s sound and presence were lost, couldn’t have helped matters.  Fortunately, that move has been reversed, and the TPO is now back home at the comfortable and acoustically better music auditorium at the College of Music.  But surely, the biggest challenge for the orchestra has been going from a bi-weekly to weekly concert schedule, a frequency not matched by any major orchestra.  Something had to give, and in the TPO’s case, gone are the difficult, exciting, mostly major works of such 20th century titans as Shostakovich, Mahler, Bruckner, Roussel, Strauss, a repertory, incidentally, in which the TPO excelled.  In its place, we have a surfeit of Beethoven’s easier symphonies, Nos. 1 and 8, Mozart, Borodin’s Symphony No. 2, and the like.  Beautiful music, to be sure, but not welcomed as the sole ingredient of a musical diet.

Today’s concert of Schumann and Rachmaninoff was typical of the new look.  Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is one of the most frequently played works in the piano canon, and with today’s endless supply of very, very good pianists in  this golden age of piano playing, it is impossible to attend a bad performance; but equally as rare is it to hear this work in a new or exciting way.  Young German pianist Alexander Reitenbach played well, but his performance did not rise above the routine, which is, perhaps, too much to ask from someone other than a Lugansky, Sudbin, or Grosvenor (roughly, contemporaries of Reitenbach’s).  The TPO gave a creditable run through of Schumann’s Symphony No. 4, but conductor Mikulski had no interpretive nuances to offer, although he did keep his troops together throughout.    

        

A Little Bit of French and German. Bangkok Art & Cultural Center. August 1, 2014.

Photo (left to right) Kritt’s brother; Benjamin Heim (cello);  Samuel Rueff (flute); person who presented flowers; Siwat Chuencharoen (piano); Krit Niramittham (piano); Bank Ngamarunchot (author and narrator for Carnival of the Animals).

 Summer is a good time for music lovers in Bangkok because many of this city’s talented young players take a short break from their studies at prestigious conservatories abroad, to spend some time here with friends and family, and to perform for the general public.  Not do they play very well, but their enthusiasm and charm are infectious. For this evening’s delightful program of German and French music, Thai pianists Siwat Chuencharoen and Krit Niramittham, both of whom have completed or are completing piano performance degrees at, respectively, Bern and Lausanne, brought with them friends from school, flautist Samuel Rueff and cellist Benjamin Heim, and together they made an engaging ensemble which demonstrated that good music does not have to be ponderous as long as it is well-played by artists who have thought through their performances and are dedicated to bringing to them, interpretations that are idiomatic and heart-felt, which takes a lot of talent and skill, both of which these fine young artists have in abundance.  Siwat, Krit, Samuel and Benjamin could take tonight’s program on the road to any country, and be assured of as much cheering as they received from tonight’s very happy audience.