Six hours of pure love
Two marathon performances pay tribute to the late King
Five conductors, five orchestras, a dozen celebrity soloists, several choirs and a children’s chorus all came together last weekend for an unprecedented event: two performances of the complete works of His Majesty King Bhumibol. The only previous time all 48 of the late monarch’s songs had been played publicly in a single sitting was about a month ago, but the emphasis then was on jazz.
Last week, for the first time in history, the audience was able to hear the incredible variety of His Majesty’s compositions played by the best Thai artists, from symphony orchestra to jazz ensemble, from chamber quintet to symphonic jazz to lush versions with 100-voice choirs and full orchestra.
For Somtow Sucharitkul, artistic director of Opera Siam, to have pulled this event together was nothing short of miraculous, and doubly so considering the constraints that he set for the event. “I wanted to use the very best orchestral, symphonic, and other arrangements that exist for these works,” he said, “but many of the arrangements, such as the ones created for the celebrated Phillips recording of the Manohra ballet by a Viennese symphony orchestra, have proved impossible to trace.”
Somtow had received permission from the late ML Usni Pramoj to use some of his classic orchestrations of His Majesty’s songs, but even with permission, searches in the archives of the Bangkok Symphony and other places turned up only about half of the arrangements known to have existed.
So Somtow and his team embarked on a massive search for extant orchestrations and permissions to use them. In the end, the concert featured many world premiere orchestrations of the late monarch’s works. Some classic versions existed, some done for chamber ensembles by ML Usni, for orchestra and jazz ensembles by Dr Denny Euprasert and for the popular group Jeeb Bangkok arranged by Trisdee na Patalung. All these arrangements were put into the mix, using wherever possible the original arrangers to conduct.
Starting at 4pm, the two marathon sessions lasted until 10pm, with a 90-minute break for dinner. A who’s who of Thailand’s high society turned out for the events, led by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who made an appearance on the second night, and the programme was reshuffled to pack most of the biggest stars into the time slot.
That “golden” slot kicked off with Pod Moderndog, singing “Echo” in his plaintive voice, conducted by Trisdee. Jazz songstress Athalie de Koning paired with “Thailand’s Got Thailand” winner Myra Molloy in a jazzy rendition of Denny Euprasert’s arrangement of “Old Fashioned Melody”.
More memorable moments from Her Royal Highness’ segment included a plaintive “Alexandria” with solo violin, chorus, a the lovely choirboy soprano of German chorister Raphael Ayrle, arranged by Somtow, who also created a hilarious version of the “Egg Menu” featuring jazz solos, six opera singers, a chorus and a frying pan!
Notable too were the full-on opera contributions from Chicago Lyric Opera’s Stacey Tappan who sang a hair-raising top F in the song “I Never Dream”, imaginatively arranged for countertenor Camp Asawa, coloratura soprano and chorus.
Most striking of all were the two solos sung by the royal granddaughter, Khun Ploypailin Jensen, who proved herself no mere “guest celeb” but a thoughtful artist, whose performance of “Rak” arranged by Trisdee and “Love Over Again”, a world premiere arrangement by Somtow, brought tears to the eyes of many.
Luk thung artist Jonas Anderson contributed an entertaining take on “Oh I Say”. Young artists from the Opera Siam Young Soloists programme, Lookpla (Areeya), Heart (Naprach) and Pop (Chaiporn) also sang with enthusiasm and a lot of love. And the big concert band from Wat Suthi played five rousing numbers.
Indeed, perhaps the most amazing thing about this event is that it didn’t feel like a six-hour concert at all. Almost all of those who came at 4 stayed until the end. It was probably the first time ever – despite that fact that these tunes are so familiar – that audiences had been exposed to the full range of King Bhumibol’s musical genius. From ballet excerpts to cutesy ditties, from serious tear-jerkers to light-hearted jingles, these are melodies that have deservedly been part of the lives of everyone who lives in this country for decades.
Somtow’s “48 Forever” brought awareness of His Majesty’s songwriting skills to an international level. Choosing the arrangements of world-class composers to showcase these melodies made them shine more brightly than ever. Somtow said in his opening remarks, “We are here to plant 48 beautiful seeds in the rich soil of our country’s creativity. We are here to send 48 messages of joy to those who will come after us.” He plans to parlay this project into a major initiative to make top quality orchestral versions of His Majesty’s songs available to performers around the world, and to ensure the legacy remains appreciated for generations to come.
