It was several minutes before the lunch break during the Easter holiday but the Berliner Philharmoniker was already crowded. It isn't unusual for the landmark venue in Berlin to be crammed with people.
ILLUSTRATION: TANAPORN AUTTHAPORN
Some came here for the architectural tour in the afternoon. But that day the crowd was waiting to get tickets to the "Lunchkonzerte" _ a 40-minute lunchtime chamber music recital meant for all music-loving enthusiasts.
The moment we arrived, the free tickets given on a first-come-first-served basis had all gone.
This is the kind of scene Assoc Prof Dr Sugree Charoensook of Mahidol University's College of Music wanted a group of Thai reporters to witness _ how classical music is accessible and can be enjoyed by everyone in their everyday life in this Western society.
The reporters were participants in a music critic seminar, held by the college. The second of its kind, the seminar was the brainchild of Dr Sugree with the goal of building up a new community of classical music critics in the local media.
Dr Sugree has long been known for his efforts in cementing a strong foundation for classical music in Thailand. He not only turned a low-profile genre into a respected profession in Thai society, but also founded the College of Music in 1998. Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra (TPO) was also formed in 2005, with full-time musicians.
Dr Sugree voiced concern over the lack of knowledge and interest in such a musical form in Thailand. The reporters' class, encompassing a 10-week seminar, is one of his efforts to fill the gap. This year's programme, attended by eight reporters and writers from various newspapers and magazine, was wrapped up with a cultural trip to Berlin.
It was to enable the participants to gain a first-hand experience of classical music in the so-called rising capital of the arts.
Once the topic is exposed in the media, either in newspapers, magazines or on television, the general public will automatically be educated about it, said Dr Sugree.
Starting in January, the 10-week course brought seven experts from the local music scene to provide basic knowledge. Beginning with the birth of classical music as a plain chant in church in the 8th century, the course later expanded to its evolution into jazz and other types of music. The history of local classical music and its evolution into modern music was also featured in the course.
But it takes more than historical perspective to enable one to appreciate classical music. As with contemporary music where there's a main concept, repetition and a hook, the class was also taught how to break down a classical composition for easier listening.
Borwonpong Supasopon, host of classical music on FM100.5 and a class instructor who taught participants how to dissect a classical composition during the course, hopes next year's seminar will allow participants to learn how to analyse a few pieces of music critique by world famous critics, many of which are not technical.
''It will help everyone to understand that a good piece doesn't involve musical techniques,'' he said.
The cultural trip featuring four performances and a few museum visits was designed to allow participants to see the diverse audience of the city, said project manager Napisi Reyes, a lecturer at the Musical Theatre Department.
Two performances were held at the Berliner Philharmoniker, the other two at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Charlottenburg Palace.
Serious audiences tend to go to the Berliner Philharmoniker where the group attended a performance by one of Berlin's famed symphony orchestras, the Staatskapelle Berlin conducted by Daniel Barenboim with a solo performance by American cellist Alisa Weilerstein playing Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor.
The concerto was once performed by Barenboim's late wife, cellist Jacqueline du Pre. The lives of the talented cellist and her sister, flautist Hilary, were portrayed in the film, Hilary and Jackie.
At the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the full-house Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute), one of the most played operas, also showed how the audience were so keen on the German-speaking opera. Despite the language barrier, non-German audience members could easily understand the story through the music, acting and symbols onstage.
The last show was a Baroque music concert by the Berlin Residence Orchestra at Charlottenburg Palace where musicians dressed up in period costumes and played popular pieces from the era. The programme, dubbed by critics as being ''more like a performance over dinner'', greatly attracted less-serious audience and tourists.
Danita Matsawat, writer on film and K-pop culture for Asta Mag, who participated in the seminar, said the course was an eye-opening experience.
''It changed my perception about art and culture,'' she said.
She said that she barely paid attention to classical music before, but it is now her main interest. She returned home to do more research on the Berliner Philharmoniker, and tried to understand the cello concerto through Hilary And Jackie. Surprisingly, she discovered after the trip that one of her favourite manga adaptations, Nodame Cantabile, a love story between two classical music students, always featured Symphony No.7 by the legendary Ludwig von Beethoven.
''I never realised it was the piece by Beethoven,'' said Danita who also discovered it was manga author Tomoko Ninomiya's effort to promote the less popular piece, compared to the better known Symphony No.9 and Symphony No.3. A few months after the trip, Danita now has this symphony on her song list.
''My goal is to write a piece on Beethoven's Symphony No.7.''
A disappointed crowd that came before the lunch break but didn’t manage to get tickets for the ‘Lunchkonzerte’ at the Berliner Philharmoniker.
