SEARCH

Showing 1-10 of 11 results

  • News & article

    Father and son, in perfect harmony

    Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 26/04/2016

    » After five generations of Bachs and the father-son duo of Johann Strauss, the idea of musical families is hardly rare. But the team of Vladimir and Vovka Ashkenazy -- who will be appearing in Bangkok on May 14 -- is truly singular. After all, Vladimir is more than well known. He is one of the finest pianists living today, is a widely-acclaimed conductor and his life is the stuff of adventure movies. Vovka, the son of Vladimir and his Icelandic-born wife, is already gaining an international reputation as a pianist. And his transcriptions of classical music have been recorded and lauded on record and in the concert hall.

  • News & article

    For whom the Bell bows

    Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 06/08/2018

    » When Joshua Bell plays a single work with an orchestra, tickets anywhere in the world are sold out within minutes. However, Bell, one of the leading lights in fiddle-playing, won't be playing a mere single piece with the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra on Sept 4.

  • News & article

    Bangkok to hear Bartók's Viola Concerto

    Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 13/03/2018

    » So many jokes have been written about the viola that it really should be pitied. Without a look of its own (the viola resembles an overweight violin), without its own sound quality (it shares three-quarter of the violin notes, three-quarter of the cello notes), stuck behind the violins in the orchestra, the poor viola is hardly singular. In fact, when Hector Berlioz wrote solo viola into the Harold In Italy symphony, Paganini refused to play it. And the conductor Sir Thomas Beecham, noting how the viola shared the looks and music of other stringed instruments, called the instrument "the hermaphrodite of the orchestra".

  • News & article

    The violinist whose bow is a sabre

    Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 23/11/2017

    » Attention Insurance Companies: Boris Belkin is coming to Bangkok on Nov 28, and nothing anywhere in the path of his knife-sharp bow is safe. Not the Bangkok Concert Hall, not Michael Tilkin, the conductor of the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra or any buildings in the area are liable to shake, rattle and roll.

  • News & article

    The music of James Bond

    Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 02/11/2017

    » If you want to win a sure-fire bet, just ask any moviegoer, any fan of the James Bond films: "Who composed the theme that goes through every single James Bond movie? The one that goes dum di-di dum dum dum?

  • News & article

    Summoning the masters by cello

    Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 31/08/2017

    » The great cellist Pablo Casals gave the second-best description of the cello. "The cello," he said, "is like a beautiful woman who has not grown older but younger with time, more slender, more supple, more graceful." The greatest description of the cello contained no words at all, and this wordless description is what Bangkok will experience on Sept 2.

  • News & article

    Brahms, Schumann and a royal tribute

    Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 06/07/2017

    » On July 15, the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra will feature two giants of 19th century musical history and one world premiere tribute to Thailand's late monarch.

  • News & article

    A mix of musical temperaments

    Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 20/02/2018

    » The three composers for the next Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, on Feb 28, could not be more dissimilar personally — or more alike historically.

  • News & article

    'The Great American Songbook' in Bangkok

    Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 25/01/2018

    » Never, ever call American popular melodies mere light music.

  • News & article

    The power of harmony

    Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 29/07/2014

    » Has any person in history ever had the solution to a world filled with bloodshed, chaos, violence and carnage?

Your recent history

  • Recently searched

    • Recently viewed links

      Did you find what you were looking for? Have you got some comments for us?