22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Bangkok Post
A night of titans
Decidedly heroic music was the order of the day earlier this month at the Thailand Cultural Centre as the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra marked the auspicious occasion of Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn Krom Phra Srisavangavadhana's birthday.
There is arguably no symphony mightier than Beethoven's third, the Eroica, and this most fitting choice of programming welcomed a fresh new maestro to the RBSO podium -- charismatic Polish conductor Slawomir Grenda, who has also been principal bassist of the great Munich Philharmonic since 1996. Balanced in the first half by an exceptionally impressive showcase of two of Thailand's master musicians, pianist Jayanat Wisaijorn and double bassist Nattawut Sungkasaro performed Rachmaninoff's famous Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini and a slightly lesser known treat -- the Double Bass Concerto In F-sharp Minor by Serge Koussevitsky. That composer premiered this challenging staple of the bass repertoire himself in 1905, and it is notable for the raised scordatura tuning by a whole tone, with the extra tension facilitating projection in venues as large as the Thailand Cultural Centre.
Of all his phenomenal piano creations, Rachmaninoff's iconic Paganini Rhapsody is perhaps captures the imagination more than any other and Jayanat's superlative rendition of it certainly reaffirmed this perception, as it thrilled an enthusiastically engaged audience. He possesses a consummate mastery at the keyboard, which is the result of arduous studies with the great virtuoso and pedagogue Emile Naoumoff -- the last disciple of none other than the legendary Nadia Boulanger. An alumnus of the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Jayanat has the rounded personality of an exceptional artist who can certainly hold his own on the international stage.
This warhorse is one of those perennial favourites which never becomes any easier for soloists or indeed an orchestra and conductor -- the score is as filigree as it is multifaceted and the 24 variations demand intense levels of concentration and focus.
Indeed, Rachmaninoff himself acknowledged having occasional problems with some of the variations of his own spectacular masterpiece, despite famously having perhaps the largest hand-span of any pianist in history. However, from the word go Jayanat assumed absolute control of the knotty material, reassuring the attentive patrons that a musically profound and technically assured interpretation was just about to unfold, and indeed it did.
The theme and 24 variations are of course based on Paganini's instantly recognisable 24th Caprice In A Minor for solo violin, and the combined violin sections introduced the legendary 1st position theme neatly and without fuss, setting on their course variations 1-10, which effectively constitute an extended 1st section. Grenda kept the soloist and RBSO rhythmically tight in expert fashion, attentive to all details in the score with all orchestral interjections precise and clear, whilst Jayanat himself was note-perfect.
Delicate pianistic touch is the essence of the next, much slower and reflective eight variations, which as a group constitute the 2nd section of the piece. Variation 18, of course, is one of those irresistible melodies which, when heard, strikes one as surely among the most iconic in all music history. A slowed-down melodic inversion of the Paganini theme, both soloist and orchestra were obviously full of emotion at this crucial moment.
Variations 19-24 correspondingly constitute what can be thought of as the finale of this work, increasingly frenetic and furiously active as the masterpiece builds to its almighty statement of the "Dies Irae" -- an entertaining demonic nod to the devilish Paganini himself! RBSO double bass principal Nattawut Sungkasaro is a genuinely incredible young virtuoso of his instrument, and as a highly privileged beneficiary of a Princess Sirivannavari Cultivated Arts Foundation Scholarship has received the best education at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. One of his many esteemed tutors is Slawomir Grenda himself -- hence their pairing in this programme -- and their partnership produced a beautifully etched interpretation. Nattawut's awe-inspiring technical facility is married to the deepest levels of musicality and the RBSO is most fortunate to count him among their ranks.
Also, Claudio Abbado's hand-picked choice as principal bassist for the top-notch Lucerne Festival Orchestra since 2006, Grenda like his Thai disciple is a formidable musical personality. Returning to the podium after the interval to conduct the Eroica from memory (like Karajan and indeed Abbado, without the need for stand or score) he certainly brought many of those familiar tropes from the Central European tradition to his energetic interpretation. This was a powerful and gripping performance from first to last, with some delightful touches of subtlety.
For example, amid the predominance of thick, heavy textures and long sustained fortissimos, near the start of the Finale, it was perfectly charming to hear as a counterbalance that brief string quartet variation as stipulated by the genius creator himself.
