Siam Philharmonic Orchestra: Home
... But the biggest bravo goes to the Siam Philharmonic and Somtow. The hearts of the characters may have come through their voices, but it was the orchestra that delivered its soul. The playing was clean, taut, and full of detail.
The famous “Triumphal March” fuelled by high-octane brass sounds was astonishing, made the more so by the use of offstage brass choirs (conducted by Trisdee na Patalung), bringing trumpets here, there, and everywhere. Strings were sharply disciplined to evoke a thousand feelings, while sensitive to exploring the depths of those emotions, once exposed. And the winds: just a single flute could enslave the whole Thailand Cultural Centre to the belief that Verdi’s extraordinary fiction was in fact true to life.
This was music of a greatness surely more splendid than anything Bangkok has ever heard before. Bravo! - THE NATION
The Siam Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 2002, is one of Thailand's most visible symphony orchestras. It was originally envisaged as a way for musicians in Bangkok to "get back to basics," and in its first incarnation as the MIFA Sinfonietta the orchestra, under its founder and artistic director Somtow Sucharitkul, concentrated almost exclusively on the core classical repertoire: Haydn, Beethoven and Mozart. The orchestra invited Leo Phillips, a prominent violinist who has led the Hallé Orchestra and London Philharmonic, as principal guest conductor in 2003, and appointed Thailand's wunderkind Trisdee na Patalung as assistant conductor in 2005.
In 2004, with the expansion of the orchestra's repertoire to Mahler, Strauss, and Sibelius, the orchestra could no longer be reasonably known as "sinfonietta" and changed its name to the Siam Philharmonic. Its first CD, "Per l'Amore" with Nancy Yuen, was launched in Singapore with the orchestra's first international tour in 2004, and was an Audiophile Audition disk of the month.
The Siam Philharmonic is the resident orchestra of the Bangkok Opera. As the most experienced opera orchestra in Southeast Asia, the orchestra as accompanied operas in every genre from baroque to contemporary. This season it will play the first Southeast Asian performance of a Wagner Opera (Das Rheingold) in February, as well as Puccini in April, Mozart in June, and a new Somtow opera, Ayodhya, in November. Along with the opera, the orchestra also works with the Orpheus Choir of Bangkok.
The Siam Philharmonic Orchestra is noted for its "apprentice program", in which gifted young musicians are invited to play in rehearsals and concerts alongside the seasoned professionals, gaining valuable practical experience that can't be found in an academic environment.
For information on concerts, auditions, and how you can contribute to the orchestra, please check this website regularly or telephone (02) 663-3236, weekdays between 10:30 and 6.
A clip of the Siam Philharmonic playing part of Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs with Nancy Yuen, conducted by Somtow Sucharitkul. The group's recording of this work received second prize at the JPF Awards in 2006 in the opera category.