Showing 1 - 10 of 18
Variations for Valentines
Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 23/01/2019
» Not slushy or sloppy or kissy-kissy, but three faces of real love will be presented by the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra for St Valentine's month offering at the Thailand Cultural Centre on Feb 8. The first face is the tragedy of love, the second face is the love of beauty, and the third is one of the most emotional offerings of love to humanity in general.
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.
Tremendous trombone
Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 30/01/2018
» 'Never look directly at a trombone player," said the great composer Richard Strauss. "It only encourages them." Then again, the German composer was hardly being honest about an instrument which Felix Mendelssohn called "the most sacred and noble instrument in the orchestra".
Valentina Lisitsa's outspoken words, outgoing music
Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 12/12/2017
» Wonderful news for music lovers who hate Tchaikovsky symphonies. On Friday, the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra (RBSO) will be performing a Tchaikovsky symphony.
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.
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?
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.
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.
A rare piece of Tchaikovsky
Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 27/04/2017
» So you thought you knew everything about Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky? His morbid Pathetique? His romantic Romeo And Juliet? His warmongering 1812 Overture? Well, think again. Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra is offering on Friday a major work by Tchaikovsky which is rarely played these days -- but counts, in its original form, as one of the most celebrated works in the history of music.
Bringing out the Brahms -- and Mozart, too
Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 23/03/2017
» 'The only reason I'm famous," said composer Johannes Brahms, the arrogant pride of Viennese music in the 1880s, "is because other people don't respect the very best things. Like Mozart's piano concertos!"