When Thai soprano Sassaya Chavalit reaches the climax of her performance at the Thailand Cultural Centre on Aug 9 -- when she hits the colossal, long top B-flat at the end of Puccini's aria Un Bel Dì, Vedremo -- the audience will have been taken on a breathtaking journey of emotional highs and lows through many of opera's most memorable moments.
If her portrayal of the doomed character Cio-Cio San from Madama Butterfly comes anywhere near matching the definitive versions of historic figures such as Geraldine Farrar, Maria Callas or Renata Tebaldi, all present will have been privileged patrons indeed. "Drive away your fears, I will wait for him with secure faith," she sings to her companion Suzuki, awaiting in vain a happy reunion with her long-lost husband Pinkerton. This aria was introduced at the premiere by the legendary soprano Rosina Storchio, in 1904 at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
Sassaya's compatriot tenor collaborator for the evening, Nutthaporn Thammathi, will then join her for their showpiece closing duet, the equally moving and sentimental O Soave Fanciulla from La Bohème, where unbounded passion is released in wave after wave of Puccini's trademark phrases of yearning and desire. The irrepressibly optimistic character Rudolfo serenades the object of his passion, Mimi, thus: "Oh! Sweet little lady! Oh sweetest vision, with moonlight bathing your pretty face! The dream that I see in you is the dream I'll always dream!" Again, if Nutthaporn can manage to emulate the likes of Pavarotti in this and other arias that he will interpret during this concert (not least Giuseppe Verdi's La Donna È Mobile from Rigoletto, in the second half), the audience will likewise have been charmed and entertained in equal measure.
Japanese conductor Koji Kawamoto is no stranger to the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, who will bring to life the sumptuous scores which express so much of the plot and drama in opera. Last year, he conducted the RBSO at Tokyo's Suntory Hall in commemoration of the 130th anniversary of Thai-Japanese diplomatic relations. No less than six overtures and intermezzos will give ample opportunity for the orchestral ranks to shine in their own right. The interludes from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, Francesco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, Puccini's Manon Lescaut and Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana are all full of exquisite orchestration and impassioned thematic interest. The overture to Verdi's La Forza Del Destino simply explodes with excitement.
The concert begins in the Germanic speaking realm of Austro-Hungarian operetta and Singspiel, then traverses the European Alps into the Italian vistas of verismo opera. The orchestral acrobatics of Die Fledermaus overture by Johann Strauss II will introduce operetta classics by the Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán and Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. Freunde, Das Leben Ist Lebenswert -- from the musical comedy Giuditta by Lehár -- was made particularly famous by the great Richard Tauber. The character Antonio sings joyously: "Friends, life is well worth living! Every day might bring us beauty; every day a new adventure; every hour the world rejuvenates! The wonderful world!"
The lusty gypsy aria Heia In Den Bergen from Die Csárdásfürstin (or The Riviera Girl) by Kálmán is even more rousing, with rumbling bass-drum and tense string tremolo underpinning Sylva Varescu's ecstatic exclamation of self-identity: "Heia, heia! In the mountains is my homeland! High up there where my cradle stood! Where the shy Edelweiss blossoms, where all around snow and ice glistens/Hearts beat wild and hot/Kiss me, oh, kiss me, because he who kisses me best, only he will be my husband." Mizzi Günther was the first diva to perform this infectious music at the 1915 premiere in Vienna at the Johann Strauss-Theater. Such was the immediate success and impact of the operetta, some 5,000 performances in the German-speaking world alone were given within only five years.
Francesco Cilea's most celebrated contribution to the opera house is Adriana Lecouvreur, featuring the dreamy, lush soprano aria Io Son L'Umile Ancella, complete with the sweetest sounding violin solo imaginable as a counterpart to the heroine's vocal lines. Angelica Pandolfini was the first to play this role, but this aria is particularly associated with the incomparable Maria Callas.
Much the same can be said of Plácido Domingo's immortal portrayal of Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca. Nutthaporn achieved the distinction of reaching the quarter-final stage of Domingo's own international opera competition, Operalia, in 2015, and he will surely be reminded of this as he sings E Lucevan Le Stelle (And The Stars Were Shining) at the end of the first half -- a prime example of the spinto tenor style which utilises powerfully held climax notes.
Both Sassaya Chavalit and Nutthaporn Thammathi have studied extensively at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria. Mozart himself, of course, wrote for the voice brilliantly in German and Italian, although still within the well-mannered constraints of the Classical period. With "Opera Highlights" at the TCC we are guaranteed an entire evening of Romantic period opulence and indulgence, complete with increased levels of intensity, volume, intrigue and drama.
.jpg?w=600)
