Dualism marks the 1994 classical music scene<\/p>\n
Gus Kairupan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): There's day and there's night, two sides to a
\ncoin, positive and negative, up and down. And that's what marks
\nthe classical music scene in Indonesia, or, to be more precise,
\nJakarta -- the center of everything that counts in this country.
\nBut come to think of it, describing the scene as up-down,
\npositive-negative, etc. isn't quite right because there hasn't
\nbeen much of a change, in say, the past three years or so.
\nThough this year there were some good individual performances,
\norchestral music wasn't much to write home about.<\/p>\n
First, the individuals. There have been memorable
\nperformances, like the piano duo recital (two pianos, two
\nplayers) by mother and daughter team Iravati and Aisha Sudiarso
\nlast August. This was an event of professional standards that,
\nas I said then, would do very well if taken on a tour not only in
\nIndonesia but overseas. Music for piano is of course Indonesia's
\ngreatest strength although, except for the duo, there have been
\nvery few others who have given proof of their capabilities in
\nfront of an audience. Of those who did, Adelaide Simbolon merits
\na mention for the marvelous work she did when she accompanied
\nPolish violinist, Bartolomiej Niziol last June.<\/p>\n
Recently, Linny Sugianto and Iswargia Sudarno performed in a
\nrecital of music for piano duet (one piano, two players) and
\nthough their performance somewhat lacked musical maturity the
\nevent had every indication of good promise because the technique
\nwas there.<\/p>\n
Of non-piano events, Eric Awuy, Indonesia's sole classical
\ntrumpeter, performed at The Stage Restaurant in what would most
\nlikely have been the first ever solo recital of classical music
\nfor trumpet. He was accompanied by pianist Ary Sutedja who has
\nearned degrees in the U.S. and Russia.<\/p>\n
Another event I can think of with pleasure is a recital of
\nchoral music featuring the choir of Bandung's Parahyangan
\nUniversity -- surely the best we have -- conducted by Avip
\nPriatna, the only Indonesian musician I know of who has taken up
\nconducting as his major field of study. Avip has been in Austria
\nfor the past three years or so, pursuing both choir and orchestra
\nconducting, and has already obtained his baccalaureate degree,
\nwith distinction. He is, perhaps, the only hope we have for
\nsomeone who will be able to whip into shape whatever orchestra we
\nhave in this country. It only remains for the tunnel-visioned
\norganizers here to wake up to the fact that present conductors
\nare wanting, and to summon up the nerve to undertake a complete
\noverhaul. It would be a shame if someone like Avip Priatna, with
\nhis enormous talent for conducting, decided to remain abroad
\nwhere he would be more appreciated. One conductor has already
\ndone so: conductor Yahya Ling, presently attached to the
\nCleveland Symphony Orchestra in the United States.<\/p>\n
There is another conductor who may yet develop into a very
\ncapable orchestra leader, i.e. Addie M.S. of the Twilite
\nOrchestra, whose recent performance some weeks ago was the first
\none I attended. I must say that Addie M.S., for all his lack of
\nformal studies, communicates far better with the orchestra
\nmembers than Yazeed Djamin of the Nusantara Chamber Orchestra and
\nYudianto Hinupurwadi of the Jakarta Symphony Orchestra. Another
\nplus in Addie's favor is that he seems to derive pleasure from
\nwhat he is doing, which cannot be said for the other two. The
\nTwilite Orchestra has apparently chosen to concentrate on light
\nclassics and popular music a la Arthur Fiedler and the Boston
\nPops, which is fine.
\n.RM 68<\/p>\n
But, heavy classics or light classic\/popular, the demands for the
\nconductor remains the same, and Addie M.S. would do well by taking
\nup formal studies for a couple of years. One other thing the Twilite
\nOrchestra (and Addie M.S. too, of course) should look into is
\nperforming without amplification. For an orchestra the size of the
\nTwilite Orchestra it is totally unnecessary and besides may pose a
\ndanger of the conductor getting dependent on electronically produced
\nsounds rather than natural ones. Amplification is not altogether
\ntaboo, but it should be applied with care to enhance the natural
\nsound rather than blowing it up. Besides which the technician in
\ncharge should be sitting at the panel with the full score in front
\nof him.<\/p>\n
As regards the Jakarta Symphony Orchestra, it still seems to be
\nsuffering birth pangs. Or rather re-birth pangs because this group
\nhas, over the years, gone through a series of oblivion and
\nrenaissance. One concert planned for last November was canceled for
\nlack of funds, I was told. This does not bode well for the group
\nthat was re-inaugurated with such fanfare last year when a host of
\nsome of Jakarta's most prominent individuals and business-men signed
\nits second (or third, fourth, whatever) birth certificate. Hopes
\nwere great because the Jakarta Symphony Orchestra, as a government
\norganization within the Ministry of Information -- and, as such,
\namounting to less than zero -- had been taken over by private hands,
\nwould be better run, or so many people thought. So far, improvement
\nhas been scant.<\/p>\n
The group which is still called the Nusantara Chamber Orchestra
\nis the only orchestra still performing regularly. It is well into
\nits sixth year now, but musically, the Nusantara Chamber Orchestra
\nreached the peak of its abilities about three years ago. Music of
\nthe classical period does not fare too badly at the hands of Yazeed
\nDjamin but he appears to be out of his league with anything
\nfollowing afterwards. The problems with wind and brass sections
\nseems to have become chronic, and with the constant change of
\npersonnel (NCO has had a quite noticeable turnover of players),
\nthere is no immediate progress in sight. One wonders about the
\nattitude on the part of the players as well as the conductor vis-a-
\nvis the work they are doing, but here is one instance that may serve
\nas an indication. At a performance earlier this year, I felt it
\nnecessary to call on the orchestra's manager to tell the members to
\ntune their instruments properly. No one can tell what the orchestra
\nwill be like in the near future, but don't expect any renditions of
\nthe works of Wagner, Brahms, Mahler, Bartok, Strauss (Richard),
\nProkofiev, Shostakovich, etc. any time soon.<\/p>\n
The above does not present an inspiring picture of classical
\nmusic activities in Jakarta. And things aren't made any better by an
\nannouncer of a private TV company who told an audience of millions
\nin the Nuansa Pagi news program that classical music makes him
\nsleepy (he was referring to the concert of the Wanderer Trio of
\nFrance).<\/p>\n
All the same, there are glimmers of hope particularly where
\neducation is concerned. The School of Music (Yayasan Pendidikan
\nMusik), whose annual crop of graduates include quite a few who
\nreceive scholarships to study abroad, will, in a short time move
\nfrom its ramshackle quarters in Manggarai to a brand new and proper
\nbuilding for music education located in Bintaro.<\/p>\n
There's also the six-month-old group called The Circle, a very
\nloose, non-commercial and non-political gathering of Indonesians and
\nexpatriates that concentrates on anything in the creative fields,
\nincluding music. It has so far presented about half a dozen
\nadmission-free musical events, including one music workshop for
\nchildren. The Circle is planning a series of such workshops to be
\npresented in schools for a reason that couldn't be simpler: future
\naudiences are to be found among children.<\/p>",
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