Struggling to survive

THE OPERA world is slowly awakening to the fact that Somtow Sucharitkul’s “DasJati - Ten Lives of the Buddha” is going to be the behemoth of music drama behemoths. Although its composer has declared that it probably won’t exceed the length of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle by much since each of the 10 works is relatively short, it will still almost certainly be the largest integrated work of classical music in history — assuming its author completes it.
That outcome seemed uncertain when Somtow came out onto the stage before the final performance of “The Faithful Son” last week to announce that because of a financial crisis, Opera Siam, Thailand’s flagship opera company, the audience might well be witnessing its final performance.
He explained that an enormous social media appeal had gone out and as a result, in the last week or so, enough had been raised to keep the production on schedule. “Your love is bringing us back,” he told the audience.

“I hope you will allow us to bequeath to this country a performing arts institution that will be of permanent value to the coming generations.”
The performance that followed was, as might be expected, an emotional one. “Suwana Sama - The Faithful Son” is a revival of Part III of the “Ten Lives of the Buddha”, which originally premiered two years ago in Rangsit. Somtow is now halfway through the series, with two more parts scheduled to appear in 2018.
 “Sama”, one of the most eloquent of the stories, takes place in the magical forest of the Himavant with mythical animals, talking statues, virgin births, demoniacal serpents and rapacious rulers and relates a simple tale of a boy’s love for his parents — a love that conquers death itself. 
Tears flowed freely in the Thailand Cultural Centre, especially as the Siamese flute played a dirge over the slain Bodhisattva while the animals of the forest mourned.
Great singing from the largely Thai cast — the three international guest stars were all veteran Opera Siam favourites — and spectacular lighting, a strong chorus though lacklustre choreography and most of all the immaculate playing of the Siam Philharmonic were the features of this show with Trisdee na Patalung the clear hero of the day, keeping everything together with a translucent tautness that brought out every detail of Somtow’s innovation-filled score. 
Music lovers in Bangkok hope that Opera Siam can get through its current existential crisis. In addition to 57 staged productions in 17 years, the company has been a trailblazer in the musical world, introducing the complete Mahler cycle to Thai audiences and revolutionising the system of music education through the “Somtow Method”, which has bred an exciting new generation of young Thai musicians. 
The youth orchestra they founded, the Siam Sinfonietta, was the first Thai orchestra to win an international first prize in Vienna 2012 and went on to win three more gold medals including two at Carnegie Hall. 
An amazing number of Opera Siam’s events have been free to the public, creating a whole new audience for classical music.
Recently, international opera critic Michael Proudfoot was at a major opera festival in Britain and wrote on social media: “This festival has built up a strong reputation in the last 20 years … yet it occurred to me how very superior the Opera Siam production was in almost all respects: certainly the production and the direction.”
For the international arts community, Opera Siam is one of Thailand’s cultural icons. It is to be hoped that Thailand’s own arts community will rush to support it and allow it to grow.