Showing 1 - 10 of 10
'The Great American Songbook' in Bangkok
Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 25/01/2018
» Never, ever call American popular melodies mere light music.
Russian extremes and caviar dreams
Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 18/05/2017
» 'I have every reason to go insane," said Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky in a typical mood, "except for music."
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.
Invention meets perfection
Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 13/02/2017
» The rare, the popular, the ancient, the modern.
Inside Beethoven's universe
Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 02/08/2016
» If the "Beethoven Gala" on Aug 11 proves nothing else, it will show that there was never "one" Beethoven. The scowling, misanthropic personality, the irresponsible debtor running from countless irate Viennese landlords was also the man who created his own universe of emotional and arousing music.
Dark, yet more romantic
Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 17/02/2015
» It's encore time for Clara-Jumi Kang. When the formidable Korean violinist appeared here last year, playing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, critic James Keller praised her "truly authoritative and highly sensitive musical command". This coming Saturday, Kang has changed her violin, modified her feelings and changed her music from the very proper early 19th century Mendelssohn to a rare highly romantic surprise written 50 years later.
Finally, Zimerman in Bangkok
Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 08/01/2015
» Krystian Zimerman's been called a "rabble-rouser", an "intruder", a "cold aristocrat", a "thin-skinner". Both he and the Steinway piano he carries around to his concerts have been called "utterly eccentric."
The Mighty Trio: Chopin, Hough and Debussy
Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 02/09/2014
» It has taken 15 months, but Stephen Hough is finally giving Bangkok an encore. Rather, the great British pianist is giving a dozen-odd encores after his triumphant performance of the Rachmaninoff and Lutuslawski Paganini variations last year.
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?
A new Mozart?
Life, Harry Rolnick, Published on 16/10/2012
» When told he could be compared to a youthful Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, an ordinary artist would modestly deny it. But Ji-yong, 21 and for a decade now one of the most interesting pianists of his generation, simply shrugged it off. Because he is anything but ordinary.