King Rama VI play shines as a grand opera

Somtow Sucharitkul's Madana celebrates royal legacy in an accessible style

- WILLIAM NIALL MORRIS

It has been 25 years since National Artist Somtow Sucharitkul was commissioned to compose an opera based on the much-loved play Madanabadha by King Vajiravudh, Rama VI.

The play is dedicated to the king's wife Queen Indrasakdi Sachi who, in a remarkable tie-in, also happens to be maestro Somtow's great-aunt.

With this family connection, there was no doubt that Thailand's greatest classical composer would approach the project with respect and authority, but how would Somtow, educated at Britain's Eton College and Cambridge University, approach a traditional Asian love story about a fictional king, set in India? It sounded like a challenging conundrum.

Earlier this month at the Thailand Cultural Centre, over 1,500 attended the production of Somtow's grand opera, renamed Madana for the story's heroine. Expectations were great for what was already being heralded as Thailand's classical music event of the year. The last time I saw this theatre so full was when I was honoured to attend Puccini's Madama Butterfly, staged for His Majesty King Rama X on the occasion of his birthday last year.

King Vajiravudh was devoted to the arts, and literature in particular. He translated three of Shakespeare's plays into Thai and did the same with all the Agatha Christie novels that feature the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.