See Siam Sinfonietta in person

Siam Sinfonietta is kicking off the global Beethoven Year 2020, which marks the composer’s 250th birthday, with Symphony No.2 and No.8. Mickey Wongsathapornpat will conduct No.8 and Somtow Sucharitkul will conduct No.2 in the long-awaited first post-shelterin-place concert to be held at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre today at 5pm.

Before the current Covid19 outbreak, the Sinfonietta and other youth orchestras in Thailand had made plans to perform all nine of the symphonies this year. However, as plans and schedules are now in flux, this evening’s concert will set the process in motion.

Symphony No.2 and No.8 share a common thread — they are symphonies of joy and exuberance composed during the darkest moments of Beethoven’s life. They are tributes to the enduring human spirit in its struggles with fear and adversity. However most of all, they celebrate life at a time when Beethoven felt like giving up on his own.

Ironically, No.2 looks forward and strains to burst through the formal structures of classicism while No.8 turns an ironic and playful eye backward, embracing the past yet reinventing it in radical ways. These are two of the most inventive works in the oeuvre of one of the most inventive composers.

Due to social distancing regulations, the live audience will be limited to only around 50 guests who donate 2,000 baht or more to help the youth orchestra’s Covid-19 projects which include educational net casting, online programming, and the creation of new content and live stream events.

However, the show will be livestreamed on OperaSiam Facebook’s page (facebook. com/OperaSiam) without charge and will be broadcast later online on OperaSiamTV. com.