Bangkok--5 Nov--British Chamber of Commerce Thailand
Now in its fourth year in Bangkok, The British Chamber’s Last Night of the Proms once again proves a storming success Jim Preen
When the audience started arriving at Shrewsbury School’s Memorial Hall for this year’s Last Night of the Proms they were met by a sea of flags strung from the rafters. The orchestra, showing some signs of nervousness, were already on stage and there was a palpable sense of anticipation.
Giant Thai and British flags hung side-by-side and a 50-piece choir sat either side of the orchestra. Silence fell as conductor John Moore bustled on stage and raised his baton.
In the UK, Last Night of the Proms is a cultural institution. Thanks to the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand (BCCT), Shrewsbury and Mazars Double Impact, it is now equally at home in Thailand and has become one of the highlights of the Bangkok social calendar.
The orchestra tore in to the Karelia Suite by Sibelius with such vigour it was hard to believe it was a school’s orchestra entertaining the crowd. As the evening progressed, there were moments of real musical depth in what was clearly a challenging programme of works by Strauss, Bizet, Borodin and, of course, Elgar.
Four pieces in and Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances brought the evening alive. The Dances are notoriously complex and have a wild quality about them. The players really seemed to dig in and the audience erupted with applause as the final notes rang out.
The choir consistently added to the sound and spectacle particularly during a selection of British folk songs. Tenor Stewart McClenaghan gave a beautiful, rapt performance of Loch Lomond. Another choral crowd pleaser was Ireland’s Londonderry Air or Danny Boy.
A Suite from Bizet’s Carmen and the ever popular Dam Buster’s March ramped up the excitement leading to Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance and the finale. The knees-up had arrived and with it the chance for the audience to clap, shout, wave flags and sing-a-long.
Soprano Hannah Phillips took to the stage and led the choir and the crowd as they roared through Rule Britannia, Land of Hope and Glory and Jerusalem.
By the end, some of the younger members of the audience were screaming as if they were at a pop concert, others were content to wave their flags and applaud.
The orchestra of talented youngsters (plus a few older members) came largely from Shrewsbury School, but were augmented by players from Bangkok Patana, Harrow and the Regent’s School.
The British Ambassador Quinton Quayle attended, as did many luminaries from the BCCT. Honourable mention should go to other key sponsors including British Airways, Chatrium, Rolls-Royce, Harrow International School, BNH Hospital and Market-Edge Asia.
Last night of the proms - it’s big, it’s beautiful, it’s British and it’s in Bangkok. Don’t miss it next year - it’s a masterpi