Enjoy music at two special places in Bangkok
A while back I decided it was high time for a serious musical experience and in the Bangkok Post I saw the announcement of a piano recital by Nina Leo at the Goethe Institute in Bangkok. Two birds with one stone: beautiful music in an interesting location.
On the day in question I went to Bangkok via the airport and from there for the first time with the metro to the city: an excellent connection! Very fast and very cheap. Into my hotel and from there well in time with a taxi to the Goethe Institute. It's not hard to find as it's just off Lumphini Park, in Soi 1 of Sathon Road. A piece of Germany Bangkok! The chalet construction is clearly recognisable, there are classrooms, there is an Informationszentrum and a Bibliothek, a Buchladen, an auditorium and even a real Raststatt.
The Institute has a busy program of exchanges in the fields of music, literature, film and photography, as well as technology between Germany and Thailand. If you want to know more about this, check out their website www.goethe.de/thailand.
Goethe Institute in BangkokBut I came for the recital of Nina Leo, a pianist trained in Chiang Mai, New York and London. She played a part classical (Haydn), even baroque (Bach), part modern (Debussy and Bartok) program, of which I can say that I liked her playing the most in the modern part. In Bach and Haydn the grand piano sounded somewhat bit, partly due to a somewhat bare, unfriendly acoustics in the hall, but in Debussy and Bartok she was certainly no longer bothered by that. All in all a valuable musical experience in a special place.
Chulalongkorn University
A completely different place, well, say quiet place, is the Chulalongkorn University at the Phaya Thai between Rama I and Rama IV. A huge site with a park in the middle and many buildings around it, including the Music Hall in the Building for Art and Culture. I was there with some friends from Pattaya to enjoy a Schubertiade by the Swiss violinist Mathias Boegner and the Thai pianist Aree Kunapongkul.
We entered a very atmospherically decorated (small) hall and it was heart-warming to see how three quarters of it was filled with enthusiastic Thai music students of both abilities who were clearly looking forward to it. During the concert, the hall turned out to have very good acoustics, which the construction already suggested. The first number of the program was the beautiful Arpeggione Sonata, written by Schubert for an experimental instrument in those days, the arpeggione. The instrument was not a success, but the sonata was and nowadays it is mainly played on the cello, but the viola is of course also possible. Wonderful music, followed by a Rondo Briljant, a set of variations on a Schubert song and a Fantasy on another Schubert song. Everything was equally virtuoso, both for the violin and for the piano, but the virtuosity was in no way at the expense of the musicality.
The wildly enthusiastic audience forced encore after encore, until the pianist had clearly had enough. Very satisfied we started the return journey to Pattaya.
Chulalongkorn University
pete,
thank you for this beautiful story.
Piet how do you get the information about these concerts and recitals.
Maybe we can inform the readers in advance about such events with the editors. If I had read this I would have listened too.
Greetings
With [email protected] information can be obtained.
For example, on Thursday 30 May, the chamber concert series by young Thai musicians will take place
from various universities (Kasetsart, Chulongkorn, Srinakarinwirot, etc, universities)
The Phantom of the Opera is also still running in Bankok until July 2, 2013
This is at the Muangthai Rachadalai Theatre.
This opera is presented in Thailand by BEC-Tero Scenari.
Hopefully there's something there for someone.
Sincerely,
Lodewijk
Moderator: Comments without initial capitals and periods at the end of a sentence will not be posted.