ROYAL CONCERT
Last month, the ROYAL BANGKOK SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA gave a very special birthday concert in honour of their Royal Patron, HRH Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya. The evening’s performance was conducted by Music Director Michel Tilkin, featuring an appearance by acclaimed pianist Alice Sara Ott, and successfully launched what promises to be an exciting year for the RBSO.
ON THE EVENING of Friday January 7, 2022, there was excitement in the air at the Thailand Cultural Centre’s Main Hall as HRH Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya made her arrival. After ascending the red carpeted stairs outside the building, she was escorted to her specially reserved seat in the first balcony, settling in for an evening of wonderful music as performed by the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra (RBSO). The concert was arranged in celebration of the Princess’s birthday – on January 8 – and the all-french composers programme included three masterworks selected by HRH the Princess herself. The day before this auspicious event the Thailand Cultural Centre was also buzzing with excitement, as musicians, dancers, and stagehands prepared themselves for the big birthday show that lay ahead. In her dressing room, German-born virtuoso pianist Alice Sara Ott was patiently waiting for the final dress rehearsal to get underway, relaxing comfortably in loose fitting clothes and bare feet. “I like to be barefoot,” she admits with a smile. “I have a Japanese mother, so at home we never wore shoes. I play barefoot as well. I believe in feeling comfortable when performing. I don’t really believe in dress codes. “However, tomorrow I’ll be wearing a long gown,” she adds with a laugh, acknowledging the regal nature of the performance. Although not yet a household name, Alice Sara Ott is well-known in the classical music sphere and has made numerous recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, while also performing regularly throughout Europe, Japan, and the United States. The composition Sara performed was the Piano Concerto for Left Hand in D major by Maurice Ravel which, like the pianist herself, was having its Thailand debut. Ravel was originally commissioned to write this concerto by the Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm during World War I. “It’s an extremely challenging piece, as the left hand takes care of the melody and the accompaniment. My right hand is basically non-existent. It’s a very dark, cynical, and macabre piece, but I really like it.” On the night of the Royal Concert, when Sara finally took the stage and performed this haunting work, the hushed audience was enraptured by her passionate and technically flawless playing. She was called back for a much-deserved encore and treated the audience to Erik Satie’s beautiful Gymnopédie No.1 (this time using both hands). For those aware of Sara’s medical history, an interesting parallel could be inferred regarding her decision to perform a work designed for someone with physical challenges. In 2019 she publicly announced to the world, via social media, that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a potentially disabling disease of the central nervous system. “I made it public for a reason,” she explains. “It’s a condition that is very much misunderstood, but the more people talk about it the more we can change that. It’s a very complex condition, but because of the improvements in medicine my [early]
diagnosis in 2019 meant something totally different than it would have say 40 years ago. And since I started the treatments, I haven’t had any episodes.” The three works chosen to accompany Sara’s left hand concerto were Claude Debussy’s Prélude à l’aprèsmidi d’un Faune and La Mer, and Ravel’s Bolero, which was supposed to be the final number but was in fact followed by an unannounced dance performance of Romeo & Juliet by children from the Bangkok City Ballet – a special birthday surprise for Her Royal Highness. Magic moments such as these, and the general excitement of seeing music performed live, are what make the RBSO such a vital thread in the nation’s cultural fabric. Under the Royal Patronage of HRH Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya, the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra Foundation – in collaboration with B.grimm and with support from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) – maintains a busy performance schedule. But the need to attract new audiences remains constant. With this in mind, the Princess intends to develop the RBSO to be a leading world-class orchestra in the Asia-pacific region, on a par with the premier orchestras of Europe. As the chairperson of the Artistic Committee, she engages actively in rehearsals and is also involved with the vetting of guest conductors and soloists, working together with the RBSO’S Belgian-born Music Director Michel Tilkin. In turn, getting these visiting conductors and soloists to play and share their experience with the RBSO’S own musicians greatly strengthens the orchestra’s abilities. Recently, the Princess visited Austria, together with Dr. Harald Link, the Chairman of the RBSO Foundation, and there they met with Daniel Froschauer, the Chairman of the famed Vienna Philharmonic. Together, they agreed on a programme of co-operation whereby the Vienna Philharmonic will send musicians to Thailand to perform. Looking further ahead, the RBSO’S plans for 2023 include a possible concert tour across Europe, with stops in Vienna, Munich, Hamburg, and St. Petersburg. Princess Sirivannavari’s appreciation of music – both Thai and international – runs deep. She has composed songs for various RBSO performances (which have received much critical acclaim), and has also written works for her own fashion shows, including Lost in Mystical Garden (2016), Serenity (2017), Horse, Helen, Henry (2018), and Adobe of Metamorphosis (2019). In her role as Royal Patron of the RBSO, she generously shares her passion for music with Thailand… and the world.