Behind the baton

Maestros Giuseppe Sabbatini, Sir Roger Norrington and Zubin Mehta will soon be wielding the baton from the Thailand’s orchestra pit as lead their musical ensembles through intricate phrasings by Verdi, Mozart, Vivaldi and other great composers.

Taking the podium first on September 16 is Sabbatini with the Nova Amadeus Orchestra. The award-winning conductor began his career in music as a bassist in orchestras, before taking up singing. As a tenor he performed at La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan and Carnegie Hall in New York, and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, working with top conductors Bartoletti, Campanella and Levine, Ozawa among others, and prestigious orchestras such as the London Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony and the Berlin Philharmonic.

In 2009, Sabbatini switched direction, wielding the baton for a production of La Boheme, an opera he had sung hundreds of times previously. His career in conducting has led to invitations to front world-renowned orchestras and in Bangkok he will lead the Nova Amadeus Orchestra from Rome through an exciting programme that includes Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly Interlude act III”, Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia Symphony” and Verdi’s La Forza del Destino Symphony.

On October 6, the Zurcher Kammer Orchestra with soloist HJ Lim will play works Mozart and Beethoven under the baton of Norrington, considered one of the world’s most influential conductors. Born in the university town of Oxford where his father was president of Trinity College, Norrington once said that he likes is to “have fun when I am making music, even when it’s quite serious”.

Much in demand as a guest conductor with the English National Opera, Bournemouth Sinfonietta, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris, and orchestras in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, he took over as the Principal Conductor of the Zurcher Kammer Orchestra at the end of 2011.

Mehta is no stranger to classical music aficionados in Bangkok having given a landmark performance with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in front of the Grand Palace in 2012.

Mehta was 15 when he first conducted at a rehearsal for a concert in Mumbai that was to include violin great Yehudi Meuhin. Eight years after he wielded the baton for the first time, he was appointed Principal Conductor and Music Director of the Montreal Philharmonic, and a year later was also appointed Music Director of the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra. Major appointments like these became a part of his life. In 1978, he was appointed Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, a tenure that lasted 13 years, the longest in the history of the orchestra. In 1961, he conducted the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time, and seven years later was appointed its Music Adviser, which in 1981 was extended for life.

This year on October 20, Mehta together with the Israel Philharmonic will take on Antonio Vivaldi’s “Concerto in b minor for four violins and orchestra, F. IV”, “Symphony no 36 in C major” by Mozart, and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony no 5 in C-sharp minor.

With their burning intensity, manic dedication to the score and charismatic showmanship, these three maestros promise a real classical treat for audiences.

 

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The Nova Amadeus Orchestra conducted by Guiseppe Sabbatini performs on September 16.

The Zucher Kammer Orchestra conducted by Sir Roger Norrington performs on October 6. 

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta performs on October 20.

All shows are at 7.30pm at the Thailand Cultural Centre.

For more details, visit www.BangkokFestivals.com.

 

Bangkok’s 16th International Festival of Dance and Music is supported by Bangkok Bank, the Crown Property Bureau, BMW, B Grimm, Bangkok Hospital, Dusit Thani Bangkok, Indorama Ventures, Nation Multimedia, Beiersdorf, PTT, Singha Corporation, Thai Airways, Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Ministry of Culture.