BBC Symphony Orchestra to give first Thai performances
The legendary BBC Symphony Orchestra will give two historic performances for the first time in Thailand at Mahidol University’s Prince Mahidol Hall, Salaya campus, on March 28 and 29 at 7pm.
The orchestra will play two distinctive programmes — one focusing on traditional works and another on the music of their homeland. However, both evenings pay tribute to the musical legacy of HM King Bhumibol with performances of Kinari Suite.
The key symphonic work on the March 28 concert will be William Walton’s Symphony No.1, one of the 20th century’s great symphonies, recorded over 20 times, most recently by the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
The programme on March 29 will demonstrate the orchestra’s stylistic versatility in two concert overtures: Shostakovich’s Festive Overture and Mendelssohn’s Calm Sea And Prosperous Voyage.
The group’s Thailand debut will end on a high note with a performance of British composer Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations. Each variation is a masterful study in personality, and with Nimrod never fails to move the human soul.
Accompanying the orchestra on a world tour that will also take them to Dubai and Myanmar are two rising British stars on the international concert music scene: conductor Edward Gardner and pianist Benjamin Grosvenor.
Forty-three-year-old maestro Gardner works regularly with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Proms, and in 2011 conducted “The Last Night Of The Proms”, televised live to audiences worldwide. He is now chief conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and continues to work with major orchestras in North America and Europe.
A child prodigy, Grosvenor first came to prominence as the outstanding winner of the Keyboard Final of the 2004 BBC Young Musician Competition at the age of 11. Since then, he has become an internationally regarded pianist performing with major orchestras. He will perform Britten’s Piano Concerto on the first concert and Mozart’s magnificent Concerto No.20 In D Minor on the subsequent evening.
Tickets cost 1,000-10,000 baht and can be purchased from ThaiTicketMajor booths (www.thaiticketmajor.com) or by calling 02-849-6565 ext 6604 and 6609.