Batavia madrigal choir does its best<\/p>\n
By Gus Kairupan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Time was when in this country the choir singing
\nscene was largely dominated by church choirs; groups, that is,
\nwho would get top marks for their enthusiasm in praising the
\nAlmighty, but when it comes to the esthetics of music... oh,
\nboy! That period is over, and today church choirs seem to have
\nlearned a thing or two about the sensitivity of the Lord's
\neardrums as well as those of the mortals who are listening. I
\ntend to think that the ears of the latter are even more
\nimportant.<\/p>\n
However, this is not a review of church choirs, but choral
\nsinging that has little to do with churches per se, though a lot
\nof works in that field have a spiritual character. Maybe it could
\nbe termed secular choir singing, which, of course, has always
\nexisted even during the days when what may loosely be described
\nas the art of music was associated with liturgical stuff, and
\nmusic for the masses was confined to street artists while
\npatricians made do with troubadours.<\/p>\n
Anyway, there are quite a number of secular choirs now, some
\nof the best attached to universities. There are at least two I
\nknow of that have taken part in international meets (in Holland
\nand Italy, among others) and walked away with top prizes. By no
\nmeans a bad track record, that! One of the two was the choir of
\nParahyangan Catholic University in Bandung, which in 1995 went to
\nthe Netherlands (the city of Arnhem) and out-sang all other
\nparticipating choirs.<\/p>\n
However, that wasn't the choir, that performed last week (Aug.
\n13 and Aug. 14) before a capacity audience at Erasmus Huis, the
\ncultural center of the Netherlands, but the Batavia Madrigal
\nSingers, which, though in no way part of Parahyangan University,
\ndoes retain a strong relationship because the core members of the
\nBatavia Madrigal Singers are graduates from Parahyangan
\nUniversity. They also share the same conductor: Avip Priatna, who
\nlast year returned from Austria with enough educational laurels
\nto sink the QE2. It was Avip who took the Parahyangan Choir on
\nits triumphant tour to the Netherlands and Italy a couple of
\nyears ago, and I don't see any reason why he couldn't do the same
\nfor the Batavia Madrigal Singers. Avip is simply the best choir
\nconductor we have. His major might have been choir conducting,
\nbut he has in the course of his studies also taken orchestral
\nconducting.<\/p>\n
The Batavia Madrigal Singers started as a small group (about
\n14) about three or four years ago. I can't remember what they
\ncalled themselves then, but at that time all members were
\nParahyangan University graduates who had settled in Jakarta. BMS
\nnow counts almost 40 members, and under Avip's direction it
\noccupies the top rung of the choral ladder in this country --
\ntogether, I hasten to add, with the Parahyangan kids who haven't
\nlost one bit of their potential.<\/p>\n
Now, how could one rate the performance, billed as Absolute
\nGerman Romantic? Well, they deserve top marks for note
\nperfection, blending, dynamics, what have you. Sure, there were
\ntimes that coloring could have been a bit more imaginative like
\nin Romanze vom Gaensebuben (Robert Schumann), but that is a minor
\npoint. Diction may perhaps need a bit more coaching, among others
\nwith vowels that have an umlaut (those two dots on top of an a, o
\nor u) not to mention those awful combinations of consonants
\nthat involve \"ch\" like in schlafen or schreibt. It's not that the
\nsingers couldn't manage the sounds, they could, but there is such
\na thing as making it sound natural. I think that the Parahyangan
\nChoir kids of two to three years ago were a bit better. It
\ncertainly isn't an easy thing but with a bit more intensive
\ndrilling I'm sure BMS will improve. They're not the first ones
\nhaving problems with singing in a foreign language. La Stupenda
\n(Joan Sutherland to you) produced the most beautiful tones and,
\ndeservedly, ranks as one of this century's foremost sopranos.
\nBut her diction! Mamma mia! Musically BMS need not hang its head
\nin shame because it is a truly excellent choir.<\/p>\n
One more thing that may be improved is the program material,
\ncontained in a booklet and another small piece of paper slipped
\ninto it. The book had all the text and translations of the works
\nto be performed, according to each composer (Brahms, Wolf,
\nMendelssohn and Schumann), while the small piece of paper had the
\nworks according to the order they were to be performed. Next
\ntime, please put them all in one program book, presenting first
\nof all the order of the works stated clearly. Translations can be
\nadded after the evening's program. I noticed some in the audience
\nwere, like me, going backwards and forwards between small piece
\nof paper and program book. On the whole, however, congratulations
\nare in order for the Batavia Madrigal Society.<\/p>",
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