Twin nights of virtuosity

ADDING TO its ever-growing roster of world-class classical music performances, Bangkok’s International Festival of Dance & Music is on Monday bringing the Samara State Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Alexander Anissimov.

The orchestra, which performs music from various epochs and styles, has in the past worked with such conductors as Eichenwald, Zak, Shkarovsky, Bergholz and Ossovsky. It played the intricate musical phrasings for the world premiere of Sergei Slonimsky’s opera “The Visions of Ivan the Terrible”. 

Anissimov is one of Russia’s Honoured Artists and a People’s Artist of the Republic of Belarus, as well as a winner of the National Theatre Award Golden Mask. 

Anissimov has also led the orchestras of the Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Teatro Colon in Argentina, the State Opera of South Australia, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Opera Bastille in Paris, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and the Puccini Festival in Klagenfurt, Austria.

He will lead the Samara through an exciting programme – Tchaikovsky’s “Fantasy Overture” from “Romeo and Juliet”, “Festival Overture 1812, Opus 49” and Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 with full chorus. 

The first piece is based on the beloved Shakespeare play and, although fashioned as an overture-fantasy, the overall design is that of a symphonic poem in sonata form, with an introduction and an epilogue. 

A taut masterpiece, it tells the tale of doomed love in 20 minutes of music that is dramatic, exquisitely beautiful and amazingly layered.

The second, also a tightly crafted, exciting piece, is specially written for a large orchestra and is best known for its climactic volley of cannon fire, ringing chimes and brass fanfare. It was written in 1880 to commemorate Russia’s defeat of Napoleon’s invading Grande Armee in 1812. 

After the break they will take on Beethoven’s Symphony No 9, Opus 125. Completed in 1824, it is one of the best-known works in classical music, and his final complete symphony. 

This was the first time a major composer used voices in a symphony. The words sung during the final movement are from Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Joy”. The symphony’s popularity can be gauged by the fact that it is one of the most-played pieces in the world. It represents a fitting culmination to his symphonic oeuvre, one that is still unmatched in its scope and influential ingenuity. 

On October 14 the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, one of the top Czech musical ensembles, will take to the stage with Vadim Repin, ranked as one of the 10 best violinists in the world today.

The acronym “FOK” reflects the orchestra’s original direction – film, opera, koncert. It recorded the scores to most Czech films of the 1930s, ensuring its wider popularity. Vaclav Smetacek, its chief conductor from 1942 to 1972, was able to build the orchestra into a large symphonic body that has collaborated with internationally renowned conductors like Sir Georg Solti, Seiji Ozawa, Zubin Mehta, Sir Charles Mackerras and Muhai Tangas.

Their performance here will be led by Robertas Servenikas, an authoritative conductor often praised for intensive and diverse creative work ranging from the first performances of large-scale symphonic compositions by Lithuanian composers to distinctive and mature interpretations of contemporary and classical repertoire.

The highlight of the evening will be the appearance of Vadim Repin, recipient of the Victoire d’Honneur, France’s most prestigious musical award for a lifetime’s dedication to music, and the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres. 

At the tender age of 11, Repin won the gold medal in the Wienawski Competition and gave his recital debuts in Moscow and St Petersburg. At 14 he had made his debuts in Tokyo, Munich, Berlin and Helsinki, and a year later at Carnegie Hall. He has performed with all the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors, including the London Symphony Orchestra and Valery Gergiev, the NHK Orchestra and Dutoit, and on a tour of Australia with the London Philharmonic.

The evening’s repertoire includes Bellini’s “Overture Norma”; Violin Concerto No 1 in G minor by Max Bruch; and, after the intermission, Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No 9 “From the New World”.

International Cultural Promotions, the organiser, is grateful to the two shows’ sponsors – Bangkok Bank, Bangkok Dusit Medical Services, B Grimm, |BMW, Beiersdorf, the Crown Property Bureau, the Dusit |Thani Bangkok, Indorama Ventures, PTT, the Nation Group, Singha Corp, Thai Airways International, the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Ministry of Culture.

 

BOOK NOW

- The Samara State Symphony Orchestra will perform on Monday and the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK on October 14, both dates at 7.30pm, at the Thailand Cultural Centre.

- Seats cost Bt800 to Bt3,500 at www.ThaiTicketMajor.com and (02) 262 3191.

- Find out more at www.BangkokFestivals.com.