Royal recital: Russian pianist to give ten-hour marathon concert for Thai king’s birthday

BANGKON, July 18. /TASS/. Russian pianist Ivan Sharapov will conduct a ten-hour marathon performance in Thailand for the birthday of King Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X), which the country will celebrate on July 28, a source in the Russian embassy in Thailand told TASS on Wednesday. The musical marathon, dubbed "10 for X," will take place at the River City Bangkok exhibition center on July 26. Sharapov will start playing at 10:00 local time (03:00 GMT). The musician plans to perform classical pieces by great Russian and foreign composers, including Sergei Rachmaninoff, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Frederic Chopin and Johannes Brahms. The repertoire is expected to change every hour. This project is a musical birthday gift to King Rama X from all Russians residing and working in Thailand, the embassy source noted. This is not the first time Sharapov has participated in such an event. His previous marathon performance, dedicated to the first anniversary of the death of Thai King Rama IX, was held in October 2017 and lasted nine hours. Ivan Sharapov, a graduate of Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, has been living on Thailand’s Island of Phuket for the past several years. The large Russian community in Thailand knows him for his regular concerts and participation in various charitable projects. A series of performances dedicated to the 66th birthday of the Thai monarch will be held on July 22-28 on Sanam Luang Square in front of the Grand Palace in the country’s capital of Bangkok, as well as in Thailand’s provinces. Rama X ascended the throne on December 1, 2016, on the 50th day after the death of his father, the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej Rama IX, who had ruled the country for 70 years. Read more