Mehta with Israel's Ambassador to Thailand Yael Rubinstein
Photo: Ines Ehrlich
A cultural respite in Bangkok
Thai capital gets landmark opportunity to host Zubin Mehta, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
BANGKOK - The rare event of Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) in Bangkok culminated purely by chance, when Yael Rubinstein, Israel’s ambassador to Thailand, asked Avi Shoshani, the IPO’s director, why the orchestra has never come to Thailand.
Rubinstein immediately put Shoshani in touch with the director of Thailand’s 10th International Festival of Dance and Music, J.S Uberoi, who was delighted at the landmark opportunity to host the orchestra.
He replied that the IPO was planning a tour to Asia and that it would be able to stop over in Bangkok for one night on July 30 en route from Sydney, where it was scheduled to perform at the Sidney Opera House on July 26.
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Despite the fact that the official opening of the festival was two months away, he decided to premier the festival with the IPO on July 30. The 167-page festival program, which officially commences on September 15 until October 13, prominently features Mehta on the front cover.
The festival is dedicated to the memory of HRH the late Princess Galyani Vadhana and her contribution to the development of arts and culture in Thailand. Until her recent death, she was also the patron of the festival and the driving force behind it.
The music for the event was also chosen to reflect the mood of remembrance: "Pictures at an Exhibition", by Russian composer Modeste Mussorgsky and orchestrated by Maurice Ravel, was written as a contrasting 10 movement suite in commemoration of his friend and artist Viktor Hartmann who died at 39.
Mussorgsky selected 10 of Hartmann’s paintings and created sounds that magically evoke the images, each with its own color and temperament. Particularly potent are examples such as the classic scherzo form for "The Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks" and the evocative eeriness of the "Paris Catacombs", all linked by the recurring "Promenade" theme representing Mussorgsky’s walk through the exhibition hall.
Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 (Pathetique) is the composer’s last symphony, and it is the culmination of a tormented soul. The bassoon’s dark tones present the main theme of the first movement, and it continually builds up with an explosive tempo, yet ends with a tragic and gloomy mood.
Reception at Israeli ambassador’s residence
Earlier in the day, the Israeli ambassador hosted a reception in Zubin Mehta’s honor at her spectacular residence in Bangkok.Clinking wine glasses and chatting amicably, guests included past and present Thai ministers, eight members of the royal family, and a host of ambassadors including those representing Argentina, New Zealand, India, Italy, the Vatican, the United Nations and even Egypt, with whom Rubinstein says she has excellent ties.
Zubin, visibly flustered by losing his luggage on his flight in from Sydney, greeted the guests warmly.
“The reception presents an opportunity to bring together a multitude of ambassadors from different countries, and what unites them is their love of music,” he said.
The excited guests were treated to a surprise performance by the philharmonic’s string quartet movingly played from the repertoire of Russian composer Alexander Borodin.
“Performed by a microcosm of the highest standards our orchestra upholds,” Mehta said, as he introduced the quartet.
“This is a historical day for us as this is the first time the IPO is performing in Bangkok, something I have wanted to do for many years,” he noted with pride.
Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (Archive photo: AP)
Yet this is not Mehta’s first performance in Bangkok, he has performed here on two previous occasions during his tenure with the New York Philharmonic.
“A further dream of mine is one day to play in Cairo, Ramallah and even Damascus,” he noted, adding that the IPO would be performing at a fund raising event in his own country India in October.
Talking about the Israelis’ love of classical music, Mehta told the audience how during the Gulf War in 1991, the IPO performed free of charge to the public every morning for three weeks, which he says “served as a cultural respite at a time of crises.”
The Thailand Cultural Center, which was built with a grant from Japan and inaugurated in 1987 as part of the Thai King’s 60th birthday celebrations, is Bangkok’s only venue for such a performance.
The main auditorium seats 2,000 and tickets for this rare event, which were steeply priced at NIS 150-NIS 1,000 ($43-$236), were quickly sold out. The audience wasn’t disappointed as they honored the maestro and the orchestra with three thunderous standing ovations.
