''The Lunch Box'' is a

chamber opera Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra. Early 20th-century operas of this type include Paul Hindemith's ''Cardillac'' (1926). Earlier small-scale operas such as Pergoles ...

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

composer

Thanapoom Sirichang Thanapoom Sirichang is a Tasmanian composer, born in the city of Chiang Mai, Thailand. He began his music study at the age of eight by joining the Prince Royals College Ensemble. He studied music with Gain Tepparat and Yutthapol Sakthamjareon unti ...

and Thai librettist Bringkop Vora-Urai. Composed entirely in Tasmania under the guidance of IHOS Artistic Director

Constantine Koukias Constantine Koukias (born 14 October 1965) is a Tasmanian composer and opera director of Greek ancestry based in Amsterdam, where he is known by his Greek name of Konstantin Koukias. He is the co-founder and artistic director of IHOS Music Theatre ...

, ''The Lunch Box'' may be the first opera sung in Thai to blend traditional

Thai music The music of Thailand reflects its geographic position at the intersection of China and India, and reflects trade routes that have historically included Africa, Greece and Rome. Traditional Thai musical instruments are varied and reflect ancient ...

and contemporary Western opera.

A Buddhist tale

''The Lunch Box'' tells the story of a mother's devotion to her only son, a fundamentally good farmer whose rage at the untimely death of his father has tragic consequences. This much-loved Thai

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

folk tale is believed by the librettist to be based on an actual incident that occurred in Thailand 300 years ago.

Composing western opera for Thai voices

Composition challenges included using the Western staff and notation for Thai music, which is usually notated quite differently, and writing for a

tonal language Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning – that is, to distinguish or to inflect words. All verbal languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information and to convey empha ...

such as

, in which changing the pitch of the word can change its meaning.

Premiere

The opera, for two singers and ensemble, was commissioned by

IHOS Music Theatre and Opera IHOS Music Theatre and Opera is a Tasmanian opera company was established in Hobart in 1990, by composer and artistic director Constantine Koukias, and production director Werner Ihlenfeld to create original music-theatre and opera works. Maj ...

, and premiered in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Australia, on 26 March

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

as part of the 2009

10 Days on the Island 10 Days on the Island is a biennial cultural festival held in Tasmania, Australia. The first was held in 2001. It is Tasmania's premier cultural event, and presents exhibitions, performances and community events in 50 locations around the island. ...

Festival. The Hobart production featured

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Monique Klongtruadroke and

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

Saran Suebsantiwongse, both of whom have been trained in the Western tradition and have sung with the

Bangkok Opera Opera Siam, formerly Bangkok Opera, is an opera company in Bangkok, Thailand. It presents an international opera repertoire, together with home-grown favorites.Fodor's Bangkok 25 Best', p. 90 (2015). The company was founded in 2001, as a produc ...

. The "minimalist and bold" portable set evoking a Thai rice field was created by the production's Sydney-based Dutch Director and Designer Joey Ruigrok van der Werven. The Western-style ensemble, which is incorporated into the stage design, comprises violin, clarinet, cello, flute, keyboards and percussion, but a gong and water percussion recall Thai rural scenes.Ruthven, Elizabeth 2009, "Thai opera's gentle and moving drama", the ''Mercury'', 27 March 2009 The premiere season was conducted by Tasmanian conductor

Michael Lampard Michael Robert Garth Lampard (born March 1986) is an Australian opera singer, conductor and composer born in Hobart, Tasmania. Education and early acclaim Lampard undertook vocal study from a young age and acquired early notoriety as a boy sopra ...

References

External links

Stateline
ABC Television, 27 March 2009
Mark Cutler: "The Lunchbox , IHOS Theatre"
29 March 2009, review at ''Australian Stage Online'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lunch Box, The Operas Thai-language operas 2009 operas Chamber operas Operas by Thanapoom Sirichang Operas set in Asia