''The Lunch Box'' is a

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

by Thai composer Thanapoom Sirichang and Thai

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

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 The ...

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

Thai music The music of Thailand includes a wide array of distinct genres, both traditional and modern. Traditional Thai musical instruments are varied and reflect ancient influence from far afield – including the '' klong thap'' and '' khim'' (Persian ...

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 Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

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 oral languages use pitch to express emotional and other para-linguistic information and to convey emphasi ...

such as Thai, 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 that was established in Hobart in 1990, by composer and artistic director Constantine Koukias, and production director Werner Ihlenfeld. It specializes in creating original music-theatre ...

, and premiered in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, Australia, on 26 March

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

as part of the 2009 10 Days on the Island Festival. The Hobart production featured

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical 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 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

Monique Klongtruadroke and

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

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

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