A programme of Borodin, Wagner, and Brahms/Schönberg in the Thailand Cultural Centre on Sept 2 afforded the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to perform at both the quietest and loudest of dynamics. Experienced Greek conductor Myron Michailidis and Italian mezzo-soprano Lucrezia Venturiello made their Thailand debuts, and certainly both made a very positive impression on the audience. The concert began with Alexander Borodin's Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor, continuing with Richard Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder, and finishing with Schönberg's imaginative arrangement for orchestra of Brahms' Piano Quartet In G Minor.
The Polovtsian Dances themselves span the entire gamut of dynamic range, opening here with silky smooth flute and oboe introductions played beautifully by Teerat Ketmee and Nuttha Kuankajorn respectively, followed by delicate harp and string pizzicato arpeggiations which were nicely paced. Principal clarinetist Yos Vaneesorn then executed perfectly the angular and menacing arabesque-style theme, which depicts the Dance Of The Savage Men, but still within a controlled context. However, in a sudden and dramatic gear change of orchestration the full mighty forte force of the RBSO's combined first and second violin sections in unison was unleashed into the auditorium. The same scurrying, frenzied semiquaver theme in common time was characterised by angular accents.
