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A Piece of Life
Suvannabhumi Galllery owner Mar Mar represented
the artist at the opening as he was unable to attend.
By Lili Tan
Artist Ye Win Aung’s second solo show,
he was born in Mandalay but is based in Yangon, and is graduate of the
Mandalay Fine Arts School. His first solo show was in Yangon last year.
Watercolor on paper, the artist, who was unable to attend the event as he
couldn’t get his papers in time, portrays an interesting contemporary take
on traditional life in Burma; the folk women, bullock carts, dancing etc.
The artist was represented by gallery
owner Mar Mar at the showing that took place at the Suvannabhumi Gallery on
Charoenrat Road on Friday, May 11, 2012.
Ye Win Aung’s work is a
contemporary take on traditional Burmese life.
Mar Mar discusses the
watercolor paintings with a guest at the opening.
The artist, Ye Win Aung, looks
at the traditional lifestyle in
Myanmar in a unique way.
Chiang Mai Ensemble invites you to the dance
“Invitation to the Dance”, is the title of the next
concert from the Chiang Mai Ensemble. Many of the compositions will be
dedicated to Dance Music, from Baroque to Late-Romantic. Composers will
include Durante,
Bach, Vivaldi,
Haydn,
Mendelssohn,
Donizetti,
Tchaikovsky, Bizet, Godard,
Piazzolla,
and Vora-urai. The Chiangmai
Ensemble consists of 5 Chiang Mai musicians/teachers: Mutita Narkmuang on
guitar, Ong-ard Kanchaisak, Counter-tenor, Remi Namtep on piano, Xavier
Vichitporn, flute, and Witsaruth Tawinno, cello. The Ensemble will be
performing at the AUA Auditorium on June 9 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets at 200 Baht
can be obtained from the musicians or by reservation through phone number
089 757 9875, and (if still available) before the concert at the door.
Antique textiles on display at 137 Pillars House
The opening evening with Rene
Anant Feddersen (2nd left) was hosted by Chris Stafford of SilverNeedle
Hospitality (center)and Manfred Ilg General Manager of the 137 Pillars House
Resort (far left) and was attended by many interested locals including
Swedish Honorary Consul Supajee Nilubol (2nd right) and her husband, former
Thai Ambassador to Sweden Pongsak Nilubol (far right).
By Shana Kongmun
The fabulous 137 Pillars House in Wat
Gate hosted a show of antique textiles from South East Asia and India now
through the end of July when the textiles will be sold and the proceeds
donated to a Chiang Mai based charity. The exhibition featured 100 year old
textiles from tribal Iban people on Borneo, to Khmer textiles from Cambodia
as well as Sumatran and Surin textiles.
The owner of the textiles, Rene Anant
Feddersen of 338 Oida Art offered knowledgeable and interesting stories
about the various textiles including the Iban textile featuring crocodiles,
the handwoven tapis skirts that Sumatran women had to weave prior to
marriage; each village had its own distinctive style so that the origin of
each woman could be identified by her skirt. The skirts each had metal woven
into the fabric in unique and beautiful designs.
The beautiful old house of the 137
Pillars House is the perfect location as it matches the 19th
century collection in mood, after viewing the textiles enjoy a cocktail in
the beautifully appointed lounge.
One of the
many beautiful antique textiles on display at the exhibition, all the
textiles are for sale and proceeds will be donated to a local charity.
Rene
explains the usage and meaning of the textiles as Alfa Hugelmann listens in.
A few more
of the 19th century textiles that 137 Pillars House staff spent all day
hanging and preparing for the show.
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Uab Sanasen – a Musical Tribute to a Great Thai Artist
Violinist Tasana Nagavajara
accompanied by the wonderful pianist Pornphan Banternghansa performed in
honor of honored Thai artist Uab Sanasen who passed away two years ago.
Uab Sanasen passed away two years ago. He was a great
artist whose paintings broke all the conventional bounds as he set new
standards and forged new directions for artists to follow. His work is
magnificent even though the more conservative might find some of it a little
avant-garde.
To remember this man and his prolific
work, Chiang Mai University Faculty of Arts hosted a memorial concert in the
presence of Uab’s family on Sunday afternoon, April 29th when
Thailand’s finest exponent of the violin, Tasana Nagavajara accompanied by
the wonderful pianist Pornphan Banternghansa gave us a most impressive
concert. Why a violin recital, you may ask? Well, Uab was a violinist as
well as an artist – in fact his first intention was to become a violinist
but as fate decreed, this was not to be. Nevertheless he collected a huge
amount of music which he played from time to time between his painting and
it was from this collection that Tasana chose the music for the memorial
recital.
The recital opened with a violin sonata
by the Baroque composer Corelli –a really challenging and difficult piece
which is a long set of variations on a simple theme known as La Folia. The
playing was immaculate – sonorous, airy, colourful and imaginative – just
the same as many of Uab’s own paintings. Following this came one of Dvorak’s
most tender inspirations – his Opus 100 violin sonatina in G major. Dvorak
wrote this piece when he knew he would return home from his long stay in the
United States and the music is bursting with lyrical melodies and nuances
that speak so nostalgically of his love for his homeland. This is not easy
music to play – I once heard an eminent musician remark that only a Czech
musician could ever capture the essence and spirit of Czech music – Tasana
and Pornphan came very close to that – the playing was forceful when it
needed to be, delicate by contrast but overall the nostalgia was captured
eloquently by both players from the opening melody through to the final
movement. Uab would have been proud of their performance.
The second half was devoted to the
famous English violin virtuoso piece, The Lark Ascending by Ralph
Vaughan-Williams and four pieces by Austrian composer Fritz Kreisler. These
works were amazing contrasts – the first full of floating high melodies
evocatively portraying the lark high above; the second set was a collection
of well-known favourite melodies by a man who popularized the classical
violin not just in his homeland but throughout the world – both performers
gave us impeccable interpretations.
Nothing could have been more fitting as
a tribute to a man who loved so much the beauty of the world. With a few
opening remarks from Uab’s daughter and flowers presented by Uab’s widow at
the end, we were honoured to be in the presence of such fine musicians while
reflecting on the like of a great man. Outside the intense heat had been
tempered by a little rain – walking out into the fresher air afterwards
where the ratchapeuk (laburnum) trees were all in their finest yellow glory
was like stepping into a new world – and nothing could have been a more
fitting tribute to celebrate the life of a wonderful artist who left us with
such a brilliant new world in his paintings.
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Quite Extraordinary Performances – Chomchat Silarat in Recital
Sixteen-year-old Chomchat
Silarat being presented with a gift after her stunning performance on
Saturday April 28th
By Jai Pee
This last weekend, the 27th
and 28th April, the winner of the Bangkok Beethoven Competition,
Chomchat (Palmy) Silarat presented two exhilarating and scintillating
recitals for the Friends of Music Making in Chiang Mai at Santi’s Music
School. No wonder she won the Beethoven competition, and indeed, also last
year the Silpakorn Suumer Music School’s piano concerto competition. She is
a superstar in the making. Several members of the audience were moved to
tears by her amazing touch and deep understanding of the music she was
playing. Her opening Bach Prelude and Fugue, a challenging piece, was played
with precision, excellent control and with some startling arpeggios – but
this was just the start of two radiant evenings – Palmy moved on to the
beautiful Beethoven ‘Les Adieux’ Piano Sonata which was played impeccably.
She captured the nostalgic spirit of this great sonata so eloquently, this
piece being dedicated to one of Beethoven’s patrons who was leaving Vienna
as the French forces approached – hence the title. The opening chords that
spell out the message ‘Le-Be-Wol’ (Farewell) were played with just
the right amount of nostalgia and depth – setting the scene for the
sparkling and at times dazzling passages that follow – Palmy coped with all
of these as if it were second nature, handling the difficult transitional
sections of the development sections with a mastery quite astonishing for
one so young – just sixteen years old.
This was the second time this month
that the Friends have sponsored newly emerging Thai talent – both times with
first-class results and the audiences have responded rapturously. Palmy’s
control, contrasts and arpeggios in the Chopin second scherzo were equally
amazing – she has a rare gift for understanding every nuance and technically
her performance throughout was quite superb. She continued with a show-piece
by Liszt and the evocative L’Ile Joyeux by Debussy – each piece played with
great fervour, technical skill and total immersion into the music. Her
finger-work was a joy to watch and the way in which she captured the essence
of the music by these contrasting composers was nothing short of amazing.
These were recitals to savour and remember for a long time. Palmy will be
off to Bonn in Germany to the International Beethoven Festival later this
year – at the invitation of the three judges who awarded her first prize in
the competition in Bangkok last year – and no wonder – this young woman has
learnt so much already, much of it due to the first class tutelage of Dr
Pornphan Banternghansa who herself has been invited to play in Bayreuth in
August and who will be giving the Friends a preview of her German recital
here in Chiang Mai in July. We wish them both the best of good fortune as
they take the Thai flag to foreign shores.
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