Gan bridges musical divide with his guitar<\/p>\n
Jim Read, Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
It never ceases to amaze that Jakarta's much-loved theater-cum-
\nconcert hall, Gedung Kesenian (GKJ), manages to remain an oasis
\nof calm, even as the site on which it stands functions as a
\ntraffic island on the edge of Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The relentless roar of the capital's multifarious motorized
\nvehicles is a constant reminder of the harsh realities of a
\nmodern-day metropolis, while the charming and graceful,
\ncolonnaded, neoclassical interior of GKJ instantly transports the
\nvisitor to a different world, where the more ethereal pleasures
\nof the performing arts await.<\/p>\n
The venue is similar in size and acoustics to London's Wigmore
\nHall, regarded by many as one of the best auditoriums in Europe,
\nand which has also seen the public debut of many a musician who
\nsubsequently went on to reach worldwide fame.<\/p>\n
In the midst of the intimate, salon-like atmosphere of GKJ,
\nBogor-born guitarist Michael Gan gave a captivating solo recital
\nthat was an enormously satisfying amalgam of classical guitar and
\ntraditional Indonesian music from many parts of the archipelago.
\nHe wrote the transcriptions over a two-year period.<\/p>\n
Michael's technique is flawless, as evidenced by the numerous
\nawards he has won at festivals throughout Indonesia and southeast
\nAsia over the years. Having studied at Hoch Schulle fur Musik und
\nDarstellende Kunst, Hamburg, under the tutelage of Prof. Eike
\nFunk, Michael has established a well-deserved reputation as a
\nperformer who embraces a wide variety of styles in his guitar
\nplaying.<\/p>\n
The recital, on Friday last week, formed part of the GKJ
\nInternational Festival VII -- 2004, which concluded on Sept. 5.
\nMichael's stance on stage was clearly that of a classical
\nguitarist, with his left leg raised on a footstool to support the
\nguitar, and the thumb of his left hand always behind the neck of
\nthe instrument - never visible when viewed from the front.<\/p>\n
Although the sounds produced had the familiar intimacy, dynamic
\nrange and sheer plaintive appeal of the classical guitar, the
\nmelodies were drawn from the traditional music of places as
\nwidely scattered as North Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, North
\nSulawesi and Maluku.<\/p>\n
The inevitable, tantalizing effect of this musical marriage was
\nto imbue rhythms and tunes familiar to Indonesian ears with an
\nunmistakable Spanish and, at times, flamenco flavor. The pieces
\nwere mostly short in duration, but each provided a whimsical
\ncameo of the areas from which they originated.<\/p>\n
The melody of a traditional lullaby from North Sulawesi was
\nrendered as a rippling, tremolo that recalled the gentle flow and
\nsplash of water at an Andalusian water palace, as forms the
\nthematic core of Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Spanish composer
\nFrancisco Tarrega.<\/p>\n
A song from Maluku had the languorous sound of Hawaiian guitar
\ncomplete with delicious slides, as the performer's left hand
\nmoved up and down the neck of his instrument.<\/p>\n
Much of the music that originates from West Java, including
\ngamelan, uses a pentatonic scale, an essential characteristic of
\nthe genre. Michael had to retune his instrument to accommodate
\nthis; so assured was his technique he was able, mid-performance,
\nto make subsequent adjustments to the fine-tuning with his left
\nhand.<\/p>\n
In many of the pieces it sounded as though more than one
\nperformer was playing, even though this was a solo recital - a
\nsure sign of technical accomplishment at the highest level. A
\npiece based on a melody from Kalimantan was embellished with the
\nsound of gentle drumming on the body of the guitar by Michael's
\nright hand, the fingers of which were strumming at the same time.<\/p>\n
Pieces from various locations in the archipelago sounded, at
\ntimes, like the guitar music of Villa-Lobos, Granados or de
\nFalla, with the occasional musical joke thrown in for good
\nmeasure. A 70s rock guitar riff appeared early on as almost a
\nthrowaway musical aside: It could easily have been missed by
\nthose in the audience not paying sufficient attention.<\/p>\n
Michael ended the recital with two extremely well-known songs,
\nBengawan Solo and Rayuan Pulau Kelapa, the melodies of which were
\nclearly recognizable through a Spanish guitar overlay. The second
\nsong also lent itself particularly well to a Tarrega-like
\ntremolo.<\/p>\n
After the recital, Michael sang the praises of GKJ as a
\nperformance venue, which, on his reckoning, might well be the
\nbest, acoustically, in southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
When asked if he had yet cut a CD of his engaging blend of
\nIndonesian music performed in a classical guitar style, he
\nreplied with characteristic modesty, \"I don't feel ready yet to
\nrecord it for posterity, as I still need to do some work on the
\npieces.\"<\/p>",
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