Italian ensemble creates intimacy<\/p>\n
By Arif Suryobuwono<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Italian food made in Jakarta may taste the same
\nas the original, but Italian music, especially string music, is
\na different matter. To savor authentic Italian music one has to
\nlisten to the original.<\/p>\n
The Italian Embassy knows this very well and the result was a
\nconcert by Nuova Cameristica on Monday.<\/p>\n
\"One of the youngest and the best chamber music ensembles in
\nItaly,\" said Italian ambassador Mario Brando Pesa at the Regent
\nhotel on Monday.<\/p>\n
The hotel's grand ballroom was a splendid place to hear the
\nensemble perform. The room's architecture is simple, yet mighty
\nand elegant. The gaudy anti-AIDS campaign slogan projected on a
\nwide screen seemed intolerable.<\/p>\n
The concert was a charity gala held for the Indonesian AIDS
\nFoundation. The campaign was part of its programs to commemorate
\nthe Dec. 1 World AIDS Day.<\/p>\n
Only the violin family of the 10-year-old ensemble was present
\nMonday night. The 14 performers played the violin, viola,
\nvioloncello and double bass.<\/p>\n
Pizzicati added zest to the mechanical bowing which started
\nwith Tomaso Giovani Albinoni's concerto seven opus number five
\nand ended with Luigi Rodolfo Boccherini's La ritirata notturna
\nper le strade in Madrid (The Night Retreat Through The Streets of
\nMadrid) in the first part.<\/p>\n
The pizzicati, which contains Gaudeamus Igitur, the song
\nusually sung on graduation day, made for tantalizing breaks
\nduring Antonio Vivaldi's concerto in G-major.<\/p>\n
But the most refreshing pizzicati were performed on the cello
\nand double bass for Vivaldi's work and Boccherini's nocturne. The
\ncellos' low pitches interrupted the singing tones of their tenor
\nbrothers.<\/p>\n
Added to the thrill was the alternating lower sounds from the
\ndouble bass made by bouncing the bow. However, Bianca Fervidi's
\ndying strums on cello which closed Vivaldi's G-major seemed a bit
\nawkward. After all, fingers, especially when let loose, sometimes
\ngo their own ways.<\/p>\n
After the intermission, Alessandro Rolla's concerto for viola
\nin E-flat major on solo viola was played wonderfully by Emilio
\nPoggioni. St. Paul's Suite from Gustavus Theodore von Holst
\nclosed the night with an invitation to dance. It started with a
\njig and ended with a dargason, 16th century English country
\ndance. The finale blended Greensleeves into the folk music.<\/p>\n
Intimacy<\/p>\n
\"We want to create an atmosphere of intimacy towards the
\naudience, as if we were playing among friends,\" one of the
\nensemble's founders, Claudio Bellasi, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
That was why he chose the lively St Paul Suite to invite the
\naudience to dance with the ensemble. Since intimacy can also be
\nevoked through the imagination of nights and dreams, he also
\nopted for Boccherini's favorite dynamic pianissimo in La ritirata
\nnotturna.<\/p>\n
Since Bellasi treats the audience as his friends, it is
\nlogical for his ensemble to play without a conductor.<\/p>\n
\"By playing without a conductor we create informality,\" he
\nexplained.<\/p>\n
\"Playing with a conductor is easier,\" he said, \"You just
\nfollow his command. In Italy, conductor-less ensembles are not
\nmany. Only two or three,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Moreover, \"without a conductor, we have more freedom to do
\nwhat we want,\" said the violin lecturer of the Conservatory of
\nMilan.<\/p>\n
And, of course, the Milan-based ensemble does not need a
\nconductor because it plays chamber music.<\/p>\n
Chamber music has been Bellasi's speciality since he set up a
\ntrio with Umberto Oliveti (on violin) and Emilio Poggioni (on
\nviola). The three founded the original group, Trio D'Archi Di
\nComo, in 1971.<\/p>\n
The trio grew into a quartet with the addition of a cellist
\nten years later before expanding into a 14-member orchestra in
\n1985.<\/p>\n
Their repertoire spans 400 years, and usually includes the
\nworks of Italian Renaissance composer Andrea Gabrieli (1510-
\n1585). The works of famous composers such as Handel, Bach, Mozart
\nand Beethoven are included, but the group also features works by
\nearly 19th-century composers like F. Szabo (1902-1969).<\/p>\n
Despite the ensemble's intimate knowledge of chamber music and
\nthe fact that most of its members have played together for five
\nyears, the ensemble took 20 days to prepare for the Jakarta
\nperformance. The intensive preparation made them a very solid
\nteam.<\/p>\n
The younger members are recruited from the best students at
\nthe Conservatory of Milan. Many have won the annual international
\nmusic competition in Stresa, a town in northwestern Italy.<\/p>\n
The ensemble also serves as an orchestra for conductor
\ntrainees. It set up a course for orchestra conductors, the first
\nof its kind in Italy, in 1993. Obviously, it is a far better
\nsimulator than one or two pianos, with which would-be conductors
\ntraditionally train.<\/p>\n
Although members come and go, the ensemble always has a least
\n14 people. \"It is expandable to 32, but no more than that,\"
\nOliveti conceded.<\/p>\n
After all, intimacy isn't found among multitudes.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/italian-ensemble-creates-intimacy-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }