2019 Beijing Forum for Performing Arts Thematic Forum Speech: Opera Siam - Somtow Sucharitkul

 

Introduction

Speaker: Somtow Sucharitkul (Artistic Director, Opera Siam)
Title: Epic Ideas with Limited Resources: The Survival and Achievements of Opera Siam
Date: June 22, 2019
Location: NCPA, China

Selected speech

The production and its reception convinced me that there was an operatic vacuum in Southeast Asia waiting to be filled — So I had this "epic" concept to create the first full service opera company in the region. By fullservice I mean not just big, traditional opera that are seen in Europe, but with a new Asian perspective, or operatic rarities, or new works, and in general would present the entire spectrum of opera rather than annually trotting out the "top twenty", as many people like to do in our part of the world. I had the idea that a fullservice opera company would transform the way music is perceived in Thailand, and drag the cultural scene out of insularity in the direction of a peer relationship with the west.
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