The tour of the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra has started in St. Petersburg

The tour of the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra started at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, tickets were sold out long before the event. It will continue with a performance at the Zaryadye Hall in Moscow.

Alexander Beglov, the governor of St. Petersburg, told the press that the orchestra's visit was long-awaited and stressed that the musicians had arrived despite the earthquake in their homeland (the epicenter of the disaster was in Myanmar, but the disaster also affected neighboring countries, including Thailand). The mayor spoke words of support to the guests of the city.

"All the music that the orchestra will perform represents the culture of Thailand," said the Kingdom's Ambassador, Sasiwat Wongsinsawat.

This is a really important feature of the program.: Thai musicians brought only works by their own composers to Russia, which is of great value to music lovers, because you can hear classical Western European repertoire in many places and in a variety of performances, but it is unlikely that you will be able to get acquainted with the work of living authors from the southeastern state anywhere else (except in Bangkok itself).

The first section featured a very recent (late 2024) composition by one of Thailand's leading contemporary composers, Narongrit Tamabut. He is also the artistic director of the team. Siamese Soundscapes (Siam is the old name of Thailand) combine a modern, sometimes quite avant—garde musical language, summarizing many achievements of 20th century music, with a vibrant national flavor, motifs that create an expressive image of Narongrit homeland.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Tour of the first plan: the main orchestra of Thailand has arrived in Russia