French violinist plays arpegina<\/p>\n
A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
French violinist Jean-Paul Minali-Bella plays even the most
\ncomplex classical music on his arpegina, the only one of its kind
\nin the world.<\/p>\n
"I can perform classical compositions from F. Schubert and
\nJ.S. Bach, as well as contemporary compositions," said Minalli-
\nBella in an interview with The Jakarta Post recently.<\/p>\n
He said Japanese composer Megumi Tanabe, French Jazz Musician
\nJean-Remi Guedon and Indonesian composer Slamet Abdul Syukur had
\nwritten music for the arpegina.<\/p>\n
The latest member of the string family, the arpegina is rather
\nlike a large viola but with a distinctive, asymmetrically shaped
\nbody.<\/p>\n
Minali-Bella said the five-string arpegina had a pitch and
\ntimbre between that of the cello, viola and viola de gamba.<\/p>\n
"The arpegina's sound is different from the viola or cello. It
\nhas more tension due to its lower string," the 35-year-old
\nmusician said.<\/p>\n
Minalli-Bella, who married an Indonesian woman, Sumaryanti,
\nthree years ago, performed compositions from Schubert, Bach,
\nMarin Marais and Syukur during a concert at S. Widjojo auditorium
\non Jl. Sudirman in South Jakarta on Thursday.<\/p>\n
"This is my first performance with the arpegina in Indonesia.
\nI have performed here twice and played a violin," he said.<\/p>\n
Born in the countryside near Paris, Minalli-Bella, whose
\nmother is French and father from Cameroon, said that the arpegina
\nwas made for him by violin maker Bernard Sabatier in 1997.<\/p>\n
Since then, he has played the arpegina in several concerts in
\nTokyo, Japan, in Austin, Texas, in France and in Germany.<\/p>\n
"This arpegina is the only one in the world. Sabatier made it
\nspecially for me and decided not to make another," Minalli-Bella
\nsaid at the office of the Indonesian Music Foundation in South
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
He said that he paid US$5,000 for the materials, mainly wood,
\nto make the arpegina."Maybe it's not expensive for other people,
\nbut for me it's expensive. It's worth a lot now since it's the
\nonly one."<\/p>\n
He said the name arpegina was taken from an 18-century musical
\ninstrument called the apergone (a traditional guitar shaped like
\na cello) and the name of Italian actress Gina Lolobrigida.<\/p>\n
"The sound and strings of the arpegina are like those of the
\napergone but it has a good shape like the actress. When an
\nofficial in a concert in Germany asked me about its name, I said
\nit was arpegina," he said.<\/p>\n
During Thursday's concert, part of a chamber music series
\norganized by YMI, Minalli-Bella played alongside Indonesian
\npianist Ade Simbolon.<\/p>\n
Minalli-Bella, who was a top-ranking student of the viola at
\nSerge Collot music school at age 20, obtained a one-year
\nscholarship to study at Yale University in the United States.<\/p>\n
In 1993, he was appointed solo violist in the French National
\nOrchestra. From 1995-1999, he was a member of the Arpegione
\nQuatuor and helped create the "European Camerata", a chamber
\norchestra with which he appeared as a soloist.<\/p>\n
In 1999, he was named music professor at the Bordeaux and
\ntaught viola at the Corbeil-Essona music school.<\/p>\n
Minalli-Bella's made his first visit to Indonesia in 2000 when
\nhe played a viola solo in a concert with the Surabaya Symphonic
\nOrchestra in Surabaya, East Java.<\/p>\n
Two years ago, he performed in a concert at Erasmus Huis in
\nSouth Jakarta and lectured at a music camp for an international
\nschool in South Jakarta.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/french-violinist-plays-arpegina-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}