Class soprano, pianist suffuse love in the air<\/p>\n
By Laksmi Pamuntjak-Djohan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Loh Siew Tuan stood on the formidable Erasmus
\nstage, a splendid vision in turquoise and pink Thai Silk, looking
\nevery inch the diva we had come to expect. Ten seconds later, we
\nsaw Dr. Kuei Pin Yeo slip close by the piano, quenching a smile,
\never her beguilingly modest self.<\/p>\n
Then the most important part of the impassioned opening speech
\nof David Korthals-Altes, First Secretary (Press and Cultural
\nAffairs) of the Netherlands Embassy, hit us right in the face:
\n\"If Miss Loh isn't world class, Dr. Kuei Pin Yeo wouldn't have
\nagreed to accompany her.\"<\/p>\n
Exactly the thought that had been percolating in my mind. We
\ndid not know Miss Loh until that Thursday night -- a night that
\nproved itself incandescent in its simplicity -- but Dr. Yeo is
\ncertainly no stranger to our scene. She possesses the kind of
\ncredibility that only fictional characters have: a distinguished
\nperformer, a competent administrator, a superb business woman, a
\ndedicated educator and Indonesia's first Doctor of Music.<\/p>\n
Yet I hardly ever saw her as an accompanist. And by the looks
\nof it, neither did most of the extra-curious audience. \"Does this
\nsoprano deserve her?\" I overheard a fresh-faced youth whisper to
\nher companion, with the kind of deference usually accorded an
\nicon, the kind that refuses to take biographies at face value and
\nonly relies on the profound power of subjectivity.<\/p>\n
Perish the thought. When Miss Loh's first few notes rang pure
\nand true, she instantaneously became a salve to the spirit, a
\nlulling reminder that art is alive and well in Indonesia, even if
\n-- more often than not -- it is partially imported. Currently a
\nvisiting professor of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, the
\nChinese-born, part Malaysian, part English-bred, Miss Loh has
\ntoured the world extensively as performer and teacher, and is in
\nconstant demand in North America and Europe.<\/p>\n
That her widest critical acclaim has come from being a
\nrecitalist is no surprise. There was a lovely affability about
\nher that endears her to a more intimate setting. And then there
\nwas that exquisite voice: melodious, dulcet, genial, warm, with
\nremarkably clear intonation and wonderful phrasing. The Germanic
\nrepertoire seemed tailor-made for her as her expressively lyrical
\nrendition of Schubert demonstrated. Sailing through each lied,
\ntraipsing effortlessly from sunny, wistful, hopeful, to
\naffectionate, romantic, capricious, she was the consummate
\nstoryteller. Every moment was suffused with love and drama.<\/p>\n
Not quite so, perhaps, for Dr. Yeo. While Miss Loh took us
\nwhere she'd been, Dr. Yeo told us where she wanted to go. After a
\nslightly-too-dominant start in Ganyamed, I sensed her trying to
\ntone down, as though suddenly remembering her role as an
\naccompanist. Yet the resulting delicate restraint -- particularly
\nduring the beautiful Schafers Klagelied -- did little to salvage
\nwhat was lacking: harmony. You could sense that they were two
\ndistinct mechanisms at play, each telling a separate story.<\/p>\n
I wondered, however, whether this disparity was more an issue
\nof interpretation, not of technicality. Was there really an
\nadhesive in Schubert's greater scheme of things, for his real
\ncontribution to the lied actually lay in making the piano an
\nequal partner with the voice. So, was Dr. Yeo in fact doing the
\nright thing?<\/p>\n
Yes, most probably, if we take into account what Dr. Yeo
\nstands for. Color and subtle nuances may not be among her gifts,
\nbut she is always controlled, balancing quiet detachment with
\nabsolute integrity about music itself. Whether of wistful love
\nstories, pastoral scenes, or everyday life, her musical
\ninterpretation is always one of clinical precision. Her vision is
\nnot about grandstanding; the way she handles genres, scale and
\ndetail demonstrates that exactitude and faithful interpretation,
\nrather than sentimentality or grandeur, are foremost on her mind.<\/p>\n
Which came to life when they both unraveled the principled
\nomniscience that make up Brahms' worldview. Dr. Yeo rendered the
\naudience spellbound when she glided through the devilishly
\nvirtuosic introduction of Verzagen, proving that she had lost
\nnone of her articulate clarity of yesteryear. Miss Loh dazzled
\nall the way, responding to the material with depth and breadth.
\nIndeed, she is a soprano of admirable range. Their duet was as
\ngrave and polished as the mellow, meditative beauty of the music
\nthat inspired it.<\/p>\n
Yet there was nothing that prepared me for the supreme beauty
\nof Turina's Poema en forma de canciones -- a Scheherazade-like
\nmelancholic fairy tale of unrequited love that burns and blazes
\nwith poetic extremes. Miss Loh and Dr. Yeo were essentially
\nmining a mother lode of passion here, but lacked the fire and
\ngrit central to the interpretation of Latin music. Miss Loh's
\nlegato, punctilious Germanic inflections, were not very well-
\nsuited to the crisp and slightly offbeat staccato of the Spanish
\nlanguage.<\/p>\n
With Ginastera to follow, the genre just could not get any
\nbetter. Each of the four cantatas bears the mark of the
\nArgentine's genius -- namely maturity and finesse. Zamba has a
\nbeautiful impressionistic accompaniment, one which Dr. Yeo seized
\nwith diaphanous, water-like clarity.<\/p>\n
After Dr. Yeo's electrifying Ginastera finale, I understood
\nthe need for Miss Loh to end on a virtuosic note. Yet ending with
\nBritten's frothy British Isles folk songs felt more of an
\nanticlimax than a worthy competition (or even cute multicultural
\nwhimsy).<\/p>\n
After all, Miss Loh's voice inspired a concert that stood out
\nfor its embracing honesty -- resolutely unpretentious, heartfelt,
\nand thoroughly edifying. It needed no reiteration, even of the
\nmost homespun kind.<\/p>",
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