http://bangkokopera.com/news.html Bangkok Opera: News Jannis' PHPRss class - http://www.jannis.to/ Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:02:40 -0700 http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#16

Published on Oct 30, 2005


“The centre of gravity for the performing arts has shifted to Asia,” said SP Somtow, novelist and founder of the Bangkok Opera yesterday at the 22nd annual Conference of the Federation for Asian Cultural Promotion (FACP). While the West has long set the standard for excellence in the performing arts, the conference marked a turning point in Asia for the arts, other participants said.



Christopher Hunt, arts administrator, festival director, writer, artist manager, opera critic and television producer in Europe and North America, echoed Somtow’s point, saying that, “Western culture has exhausted its traditional cultural life.”

He said that elements making the arts successful, such as originality, had been lost in the West but have not yet been lost in Asia.

China is one of the most successful Asian countries in giving consumers a fusion of contemporary performance and Western cultural arts, and catering to modern audiences while still being built around traditional Chinese culture.

“There is a need to change and transform traditional arts and relate them to contemporary life,” said Zhang Yu, chairman of the FACP board of directors and general manager of the China Performing Arts Agency.

Zhang talked about a new show in Shanghai called “Arrow”, with Chinese acrobatics, new choreography and modern elements — among them performers wearing casual clothes — to show the rise of fusion in the performing arts in China.

Thailand is home to some of Asia’s best and most original performing arts.

However, problems including lack of infrastructure and networking have long held back the growth of the performing arts in Thailand. Somtow said that while sponsorship is a desired factor in supporting the arts here, it should be free of any intrusion on the originality of the producer of the arts. Vararom Pachimsawat, artistic director of a Thai dance centre, also says that while it has many talented people, Thailand needs more proper theatre promoters.

Another issue for the emergence of performing arts is the audience — which is demanding more while also being more prone to accepting new technologies, which means Asian performing arts need to catch up. Hunt discussed changing consumer needs. He said that while the performing arts have always been a public activity, private activities like the Internet, mobile phones and television will consume the audience’s time.

Kwang Wai-lap, general manager of the City Contemporary Dance Company of Hong Kong, said there must be a change in thinking and attitude before more people watch performing arts. This includes creating original performances to attract audiences of diverse tastes and lifestyles.

Leow Siak-fak, chairman of the Lyric Opera in Malaysia, also said that “creativity in the absence of an audience is meaningless,” and there is a need to build audiences who will become more sophisticated by creating “good packaging”.

Lisnaree Vichitsorasatra

The Nation]]> http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#16 Tue, 01 Nov 2005 00:00:00 -0800 Bangkok Opera: the only opera company in Thailand offering a full season of opera and other fine music programs. - Bangkok Opera - News http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#13
Lead Story: Bangkok Opera announces first full opera season in Southeast Asia.

Ongoing Interest: Bangkok Opera's new home, the Bangkok Classical Music Calendar, Bangkok Opera DVDs, the inauguration of the Thailand Chapter of the Wagner Society.

Performances: "Aida" draws raves, inauguration of the Bangkok Opera House Concert Series, more House Concert news, performance of the Queen Sirikit Concerto, Trisdee presents the Sonata, Bangkok Opera presents Mozart's "Great" C Minor Mass.

Other Events & Miscellaneous: Bangkok Opera Foundation conducts a voice workshop, Results of Bangkok Opera Foundation's vocal competition, Somtow conducts in Hanoi.]]> http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#13 Tue, 05 Jul 2005 00:00:00 -0700 Bangkok Opera: the only opera company in Thailand offering a full season of opera and other fine music programs. - Bangkok Opera - News http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#15
From September 2005-June 2006, the Bangkok Opera will present a varied feast of five masterworks, including two new productions, two revivals, and one international co-production. This historic season will include the first Wagner production in the region, a three-country celebration of the International Mozart Year, the triumphant return of Somtow Sucharitkul’s Mae Naak, and the Thailand debut of Nancy Yuen’s world-famous portrayal of the title role in Madama Butterfly.

Spearheading the season on September 3 will be a revival of Somtow’s Mae Naak, an opera which prompted Metropolitan Opera conductor Frederic Chaslin to say “Somtow could be an important landmark in today’s music.” This setting of Thailand’s most famous ghost story, to an exotic blend of expressionist “horror-movie” music and sounds derived from Thai folk music, was designed by National Artist Sumet Jumsai and new direction will be provided by Henry Akina, director of the Hawaii Opera. Nancy Yuen will reprise the role originally created for her, while charismatic San Francisco Opera star Kyu Won Han will debut in the role of Maak.

February 5 will see the beginning of a five-year project to present Wagner’s entire Ring Cycle in Bangkok by 2010. Years in the making, Somtow’s interpretation presents a new Asian perspective on the opera rooted in Buddhist and Hindu mythology. Tickets for Das Rheingold are already being snapped up by Wagner fans as far away as the U.S., Germany, and Australia, and the Bangkok Opera hopes to open a new era of opera tourism in Thailand with this production.

Last year, Nancy Yuen’s portrait was plastered all over the London Underground when she starred in a high-grossing production at the Albert Hall. After performing the role of Butterfly in a dozen countries, she sold out the Esplanade in Singapore, a first for the Singapore Lyric Opera. The Bangkok Opera brings the SLO’s striking production, originally directed by Ivan Heng, to the Thailand Cultural Center on April 5 and 6.

The season will end with a celebration of the International Year of Mozart, with a revival of Bangkok Opera’s richly innovative Magic Flute and a new production of Mozart’s politically incorrect sex comedy Cosi fan Tutte, directed by Richard Harrell. Mozart lovers will have the chance to continue their Mozart opera journey in Singapore, where the SLO will perform The Marriage of Figaro at the Esplanade Theater. An arrangement with Lyric Opera Malaysia is currently being worked out in order to include all three countries in the Mozart Fest.

The cooperation between Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand’s three flagship opera companies is possible because their three directors got together to create an ASEAN Opera League in order to share information, productions, and expertise. Somtow Sucharitkul has been elected permanent chair of this league. “When all three opera companies start growing — and more regional companies join us — we will end up with one of the most vital and exciting opera communities in the world,” Somtow says. “It is a thrill that we are now being discussed and reviewed in the world’s opera magazines. This is an area where the Europeans have reached a decadent impasse and every production of a classical opera seems to be re-set in a Nazi concentration camp or otherwise be designed to shock. Here in the east, we have a new viewpoint, and while we may not be as technically adept as western opera companies, or have as much money, the west has now recognized that we have important things to say about this art form that forms part of the whole world’s shared cultural heritage. And they are looking to Asia for a cultural rebirth.”]]> http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#15 Thu, 30 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0700 Bangkok Opera: the only opera company in Thailand offering a full season of opera and other fine music programs. - Bangkok Opera - News http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#1 here.]]> http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#1 Fri, 03 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0700 Bangkok Opera: the only opera company in Thailand offering a full season of opera and other fine music programs. - Bangkok Opera - News http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#14 Aida, in what was our best production to our biggest audience to date. Critics came from as far as Canada (the Toronto Star), and some people flew in from Hong Kong to see this show. Starring Jessica Chen, with Mexican mezzo-soprano Grace Echauri and American tenor Todd Geer, and directed by San Francisco's Richard Harrell, with Maestro Somtow Sucharitkul conducting, this production used ancient Siam as a stand-in for Egypt.

The Nation called it "mind-blowing" and "gripping" and said that it "was put together with a vision and performed with an inspiration that are rarely found at the greatest opera houses in the world." The same review called Jessica Chen's singing "guaranteed to strike at the essence of the soul". It praised Todd Geer's "impassioned" singing and "compelling" acting. It called Grace Echauri's singing "more than stunning" and Ralph Schatzki's, "clear, biting, engaged, and alarmingly penetrating." And as if that's not enough, Richard Harrell's production was praised as "dazzling", the chorus sang "gloriously", and modesty only bars us from quoting what the Nation said about the music. But you can read it by going to the Press page.]]> http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#14 Sun, 01 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700 Bangkok Opera: the only opera company in Thailand offering a full season of opera and other fine music programs. - Bangkok Opera - News http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#2
On Friday, April 1, at 8 pm, Bangkok flautist Sebastian Bhakdi and Raul Sunico, a prominent pianist on a visit from the Phillipines, continued the series with a delightful recital, featuring the following pieces:
W. A. Mozart, Sonata for Flute and Piano in F, K. 376
Frederic Chopin, Variations on a Theme by Rossini
Jules Mouquet, La Flute de Pan
Pietro Morlacchi, Il pastore svizzero

Information on the next house concert is available from The Bangkok Opera, 0 2661 4688-9.]]> http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#2 Fri, 01 Apr 2005 00:00:00 -0800 Bangkok Opera: the only opera company in Thailand offering a full season of opera and other fine music programs. - Bangkok Opera - News http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#7
In addition, Jan-Ate sang arias by Rossini (the Largo al Factotum) and Wagner (Winterstürme). Moreover, accompanist Trisdee na Patalung appeared as a soloist in his own right, playing a composition by Hummel.]]> http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#7 Fri, 21 Jan 2005 00:00:00 -0800 Bangkok Opera: the only opera company in Thailand offering a full season of opera and other fine music programs. - Bangkok Opera - News http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#3 Bangkok Classical Concert Calendar as a public service to classical music lovers in Thailand. The purpose of this website is to present a single location in which the latest details of all classical music events in Bangkok can appear. The information comes from the organizers of the concerts themselves and every effort is made to ensure its accuracy. The aim is to present ALL public classical music concerts in order to be a resource for concertgoers as well as for concert organizers to better plan their own activities to avoid clashes.

If you are the organizer of an event that involves classical music, you can click the link on the website to send information to Ryan Bliss, who updates the calendar on a regular basis.]]> http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#3 Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 -0800 Bangkok Opera: the only opera company in Thailand offering a full season of opera and other fine music programs. - Bangkok Opera - News http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#6
It was a very exclusive premiere — only 73 couples, one for each year of Her Majesty's Sixth Cycle and one extra couple for luck — were privileged to attend. HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana personally toasted the Queen, and there were many other intimate moments. In a rare departure from formal protocol, Her Majesty shook the maestro's hand warmly as she departed and urged him to encourage more young people to play classical music. A few photos taken at the event can be seen here.

The concerto received its first public performance on Tuesday, December 21, at the National Theater. It was performed publicly in response to HRH Princess Galyani's wish that the general public be treated to a live performance of the Queen Sirikit Concerto. The concert was the Bangkok Opera's year-end gala, and included performances by popular soprano Nancy Yuen, who sang the Strauss Four Last Songs, which she recently released on CD with the Siam Philharmonic and Maestro Somtow.

In addition, the orchestra's principal guest conductor, Leo Phillips, showcased the orchestra in popular works such as Sibelius' Finlandia, the Strauss Emperor Waltz, and Rossini's Barber of Seville Overture. This was a delightful evening of classical music for the whole family. Proceeds went to the Queen Sirikit Breast Cancer Center.

On the 23rd, Mr. Serdar gave an intimate solo recital at the Piyabhand Sanitwongse Foundation Auditorium in Soi Nana North, Sukhumvit. The program included works by Galuppi, Rameau, Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. Some of the pieces were familiar to his fans from Mr. Serdar’s EMI album, which has garnered rave reviews and is now in its second release.]]> http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#6 Fri, 24 Dec 2004 00:00:00 -0800 Bangkok Opera: the only opera company in Thailand offering a full season of opera and other fine music programs. - Bangkok Opera - News http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#4
These and other DVDs to come are professionally imprinted (on the DVD itself) and packaged in hard DVD containers with glossy color inserts. They are not commercially sold, but available only at our concerts or from the Bangkok Opera offices in Sukhumvit Soi 36 during its normal business hours, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. We will be making them available through this website in the near future.

Those who took part in a performance may buy up to two copies of each item at a special performers' price and may buy additional copies at the "friend of Bangkok Opera" price.

The prices (in baht) for performers, friends of Bangkok Opera, and others are, respectively:
Mozart (300, 400, 500)
Brahms (300, 400, 500)
Mae Naak (500, 600, 800)

We plan to have other concerts and opera performances edited and sent to the DVD manufacturer soon. We're working through all the tapes in our possession, so the next "batch" will probably includeThe Magic Flute.]]> http://bangkokopera.com/news.html#4 Wed, 01 Dec 2004 00:00:00 -0800 Bangkok Opera: the only opera company in Thailand offering a full season of opera and other fine music programs. - Bangkok Opera - News