Five years ago, the Bangkok Opera was founded with the vision of establishing a credible opera season in Bangkok by the year 2006. That plan is now about to come to fruition with the announcement of the first full-scale opera season in the Southeast Asian region.

From September 2005-June 2006, the Bangkok Opera will present a varied feast of five masterworks, including two new productions, two revivals, and one international co-production. This historic season will include the first Wagner production in the region, a three-country celebration of the International Mozart Year, the triumphant return of Somtow Sucharitkul’s Mae Naak, and the Thailand debut of Nancy Yuen’s world-famous portrayal of the title role in
Madama Butterfly.

Spearheading the season on September 3 will be a revival of Somtow’s Mae Naak, an opera which prompted Metropolitan Opera conductor Frederic Chaslin to say “Somtow could be an important landmark in today’s music.” This setting of Thailand’s most famous ghost story, to an exotic blend of expressionist “horror-movie” music and sounds derived from Thai folk music, was designed by National Artist Sumet Jumsai and new direction will be provided by Henry Akina, director of the Hawaii Opera. Nancy Yuen will reprise the role originally created for her, while charismatic San Francisco Opera star Kyu Won Han will debut in the role of Maak.

February 5 will see the beginning of a five-year project to present Wagner’s entire Ring Cycle in Bangkok by 2010. Years in the making, Somtow’s interpretation presents a new Asian perspective on the opera rooted in Buddhist and Hindu mythology. Tickets for Das Rheingold are already being snapped up by Wagner fans as far away as the U.S., Germany, and Australia, and the Bangkok Opera hopes to open a new era of opera tourism in Thailand with
this production.

Last year, Nancy Yuen’s portrait was plastered all over the London Underground when she starred in a high-grossing production at the Albert Hall. After performing the role of Butterfly in a dozen countries, she sold out the Esplanade in Singapore, a first for the Singapore Lyric Opera. The Bangkok Opera brings the SLO’s striking production, originally directed by Ivan Heng, to the Thailand Cultural Center on April 5 and 6.

The season will end with a celebration of the International Year of Mozart, with a revival of Bangkok Opera’s richly innovative Magic Flute and a new production of Mozart’s politically incorrect sex comedy Cosi fan Tutte, directed by Richard Harrell. Mozart lovers will have the chance to continue their Mozart opera journey in Singapore, where the SLO will perform The Marriage of Figaro at the Esplanade Theater. An arrangement with Lyric Opera Malaysia is currently being worked out in order to include all three countries in the    Mozart Fest.