Since its foundation in 2010, the Bangkok Charity Orchestra (BCO) has raised over 25 million baht for good causes in Thailand. Recently, at the Aksra Theatre (King Power Rangnam), conductor and BCO founder Chulayuth Lochotinan guided his 80-piece orchestra with authority and style through an impressive musical gala.
The intention was to raise money for the Paintbrush Foundation, which provides free music and art education to underprivileged children in the Klong Toey slum community of Bangkok. However, the ebullient MC Supapij Xoomsai Na Ayudhya announced that 30% of the evening's proceeds would be donated to the Bangkok earthquake appeal.
Presenting the show as a party scene from Strauss' Die Fledermaus, maestro Chulayuth opened with a spirited performance of the overture, giving the orchestra time to settle before handing over the limelight to a troupe of talented soloists.
Johann Strauss II is often called the King of Waltzes, but he was also the Emperor of Operetta and Die Fledermaus, which premiered in 1874, is the jewel in his imperial crown. The score is packed with memorable tunes, all hanging by the thread of a charmingly implausible plot. Ultimately, it is a romp through upper-class 19th century Vienna, where people with plenty of money and too much time on their hands attend a lavish masked ball, hosted by a bored Russian prince (played with panache by Potprecha Cholvijarn).
Cases of mistaken identity stretch credulity, especially when most of this evening's party-goers didn't wear masks. Still, it was an ideal opportunity for a superb cast to display their talents, which they did with great swagger.
Sérine de Labaume shone as the feisty chambermaid with notions above her domestic position. Of French, American and South Korean lineage, she now has a thriving opera career based out of Berlin and it's not hard to see why. Her high soprano voice projects beautifully and she is a born actress, performing with musical integrity while connecting easily with the audience.
Palang Rocksilp, who studied opera in Beijing with renowned baritone Chen-Ye Yuan, is so vocally gifted you don't know whether to love him or seethe with envy. Such is his golden tone and stage charisma that he deserves to be a household name in Thailand. In the sparkling jacket of a Las Vegas showman, he sang a brilliant Toreador from Carmen and made the notoriously difficult role of Eisenstein seem like a walk in Lumpini Park.
In the plot of the operetta, a mysterious Hungarian countess keeps everyone in suspense with her late arrival. This particular evening, Rosalinda was so tardy (perhaps stuck in Bangkok traffic!) that there was enough time for three songs from the musicals and an entire piano concerto.
The Mendelssohn Concerto In G Minor isn't performed very often, possibly because as a composition it never quite comes into its stride. Even the composer, who was only 21 when he wrote it in 1830, regretted he had perhaps thrown it together in haste. ("I wrote it in but a few days and almost carelessly," he said.)
Even though its melodic and harmonic language feels limited, 14-year-old Thai pianist Papicha Vejmongkolkorn approached the work like a great concerto by Mozart or Beethoven. First prize winner of the Bangkok Youth Piano Competition (2024), her note-perfect performance and technical accomplishment is a credit to Thailand. Papicha's dedication and maturity shines through like a beacon of hope for the future. If anyone is searching for an ambassador for young people, they should look no further.
Winner of Thailand's Young Musicians Award (2024), Irisa Vimolratana is a six-year-old girl with a huge voice. It takes great courage to sing I Dreamed A Dream from Les Misérables with a full orchestra hanging on your every breath. Her fearlessness and musical accuracy brought the house down.
Pichamon Theppabutr, 11, sparkled in a beautiful performance of the macabre waltz from Anastasia while tenor Alexander Bowman, 18, could grace any stage in London's West End with his heartfelt interpretation of Why God, Why? from Miss Saigon.
When the Hungarian countess finally arrived, she turned out to be renowned Japanese soprano Miyata Tae, elegantly disguised with a red lace mask. Strauss' setting of the Czardas lies exactly where her voice is at its best: her warm, strong lower register balanced by a powerful, exciting top B that rang out through the hall. When she and Rocksilp sang together in Carmen, it was a match made in vocal heaven.
Discrete amplification brought the sound forward into the 600 seat auditorium which, though sumptuously comfortable, was not designed with classical acoustics in mind. The music pieces were threaded together with dialogue scenes as the nonchalant party guests chatted and drank presumably non-alcoholic Champagne. Pitchaya Kemasinki impressed as much with his sonorous bass-baritone voice as his striking checkered suit and, to close, John Tneoh led the cast in the inspired ensemble Brüderlein, Strauss' hymn to humanity.
In a week when Bangkok was shaken to its core, this call to brotherhood and unity was even more touching than usual.
