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The following is reproduced from the Bangkok Post and is a true and serious account of the classical piano recital described.

“Mr. Kropp had chosen the title ‘An Evening With Bach’ for his performance. Indeed, from the very outset, it was an evening the social leaders of Bangkok would not soon forget....A hush fell over the room as Mr. Kropp appeared from the right of the stage....With sparse, sandy hair, a sallow complexion and a deceptively frail-looking frame, the man who has re-popularized Johann Sebastian Bach approached the Baldwin concert grand, bowed to the audience and placed himself upon the stool.

The evening opened with the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, the ‘raging storm’ as described by Schweitzer, which, even when adapted for piano, gives us an idea of what the young Bach, whose ideas were close to those of Buxtehude, meant by virtuosity: bold melodic lines, surging dynamics, forceful accents and impassioned modulations which not infrequently confounded the church congregations, according to contemporaries who were alarmed by the intensity of Bach’s expressive power.

As I have mentioned on several other occasions, the Baldwin concert grand, while basically a fine instrument, needs constant attention, particularly in a climate such as Bangkok’s. This is even more true when the instrument is as old as the one provided in the Chamber Music Room of the Erawan Hotel. In this humidity the felts which separate the white keys from the black tend to swell, causing an occasional key to stick, which apparently was the case last evening with the D in the second octave.

During the ‘raging storm’, Mr. Kropp must be complimented for putting up with the awkward D. However, by the time the ‘storm’ was past and he had gotten into the Prelude and Fugue in D Major, in which the second-octave D plays a major role, Mr. Kropp’s patience was wearing thin.

Some who attended the performance later questioned whether the awkward key justified some of the language which was heard coming from the stage during softer passages of the fugue. However, one member of the audience, who had sent his children out of the room by the midway point of the fugue, had a valid point when he commented, over the music and extemporaneous remarks of Mr. Kropp, that the workman who had greased the stool might have done better to use some of the grease on the second-octave D key.

Indeed, Mr. Kropp’s stool had more than enough grease, and during one passage in which the music and lyrics both were particularly violent, Mr. Kropp was turned completely around. Whereas before his remarks had been aimed largely at the piano and were therefore somewhat muted, to his surprise and that of those in the Chamber Music Room, he found himself addressing himself directly to the audience.

But such things do happen, and the person who began to laugh deserves to be severely reprimanded for this undignified behaviour. Unfortunately, laughter is contagious, and by the time it had subsided and the audience had regained its composure, Mr. Kropp appeared to be somewhat shaken. Nevertheless, he swiveled himself back into position facing the piano and, leaving the D Major unfinished, commenced on the Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor.

Why the concert grand piano’s G key in the third octave chose that particular time to begin sticking I hesitate to guess. However, it is certainly safe to say that Mr. Kropp himself did nothing to help matters when he began to use his feet to kick the lower portion of the piano instead of operating the pedals as it is generally done.

Possibly it was this jarring, or the unBach-like hammering to which the sticking keyboard was being subjected. But something caused the right front leg of the piano to buckle slightly inward, leaving the entire instrument listing at approximately a 35-degree angle from that which is normal. A gasp went up from the audience, for if the piano had actually fallen, several of Mr. Kropp’s toes, of not both his feet, would surely have been broken.

It was with a sigh of relief, therefore, that the audience saw Mr. Kropp slowly rise from his stool and leave the stage. A few men in the back of the room began clapping, and when Mr. Kropp reappeared a moment later, it seemed he was responding to the ovation. Apparently however, he had left to get the red-handled fire ax which was hung backstage in case of fire, for that was what he had in his hand.

My first reaction at seeing Mr. Kropp begin to chop at the left leg of the grand piano was that he was attempting to make it tilt at the angle as the right leg and thereby correct the list. However, when the weakened legs finally collapsed altogether with a great crash and Mr. Kropp continued to chop, it became obvious to all that he had no intention of going on with the concert.

The ushers, who had heard the snapping of piano wires and splintering of sounding board from the dining room, came rushing in and with the help of the hotel manager, two Indian watchmen and a passing police corporal, finally succeeded in disarming Mr. Kropp and dragging him off the stage.

The consensus of those who witnessed Mr. Kropp’s performance is that it will be a long time before Bangkok concertgoers are again treated to such a spectacular evening.”

Signed by Critic Kenneth Langbell