Ladies Orchestra mesmereizes Jakartans<\/p>\n
By Arif Suryobuwono<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): For Indonesian women, housewives in particular,
\na gathering will usually mean an arisan (a rolling loan scheme).
\nOr a time for tea or coffee which might degenerate into a gossipy
\nKaffekrnzchen (ladies' coffee party).<\/p>\n
But for the 14 women of the Vienna Waltz Dream Ladies
\nOrchestra (Damenkapelle Wiener Walzertraum) featured at the
\nautumn ball at the Shangri-la here last Friday, it means
\nrehearsals or a concert.<\/p>\n
\"We usually practice every two weeks for three to four hours,\"
\nsaid the orchestra's violinist leader, Doris Dorer. The ladies do
\nnot belong to Dorer's orchestra only. Some are in other ladies
\norchestras or in mixed orchestras at the same time.<\/p>\n
\"Of course, we have to practice more often when we have to
\ngive a concert like this one,\" Dorer said. Dorer, who set up the
\nladies orchestra in January 1990, stressed that women are also
\ncapable of delivering a quality concert, and not just perform in
\nrestaurants, bars or coffee houses.<\/p>\n
Dorer proved what she said as soon as the flaxen-haired
\nViennese ladies became one in three-four time, extending an
\nirresistible invitation to dance to the audience, evenly split
\nbetween expats and locals. The assembled multitude took up the
\noffer passionately, though they seemed to be afraid of staying up
\ntoo late.<\/p>\n
In 19th-century pink tulle dresses, minus the stand-up collars
\n(to make holding the violins easier), the ladies were more than
\nable to evoke the spirit of Johann Strauss' Vienna in the 1,800
\nsquare meter ballroom.<\/p>\n
In their concert's program, they beautifully blended the
\ngolden era of the waltz (epitomized by Strauss) and the silver
\nera (Franz Lehar, Karl Komzak, Emmerich Kalman). The program
\nstarted with Lehar's Gold und Silber and ended with Strauss' An
\nder schnen blauen Donau (On the beautiful blue Danube).<\/p>\n
They played the instruments in a joyful way. Despite the
\nsomewhat formal occasion, what came across was an informal sense
\nof intimacy.<\/p>\n
Intimacy and passion for Viennese music were also apparent in
\nthe way Dorer gave the audience, in her thick German accent, a
\nbrief background to each waltz.<\/p>\n
Dorer, a 1985 graduate of the Vienna Conservatorium in violin
\nstudies, danced to the music as she was playing with her violin,
\nleading her group.<\/p>\n
The secret of their success, Dorer said, lay in their long-
\nstanding, intimate relationship. \"We are all old friends. We have
\nknown each other very well for a long, long time. This is
\nimportant to developing a true feeling for typical Vienna
\nwaltzes.\"<\/p>\n
She added that \"one must not stick to scores but rather pour
\nout the spirit of the waltz to the audience. This means that our
\nmembers must not be imprisoned with how the music should be
\ninterpreted. They must have intuition.\"<\/p>\n
Equally remarkable, however, was their intimacy with the
\ninstruments, not just the strings and the piano but also with
\ninstruments not commonly played by women -- trumpets, horns and
\ndrums.<\/p>\n
Pri Sulisto, owner of Jakarta's classical-music radio station,
\nRadio Klassik Top FM, praised the group's drummer. Sulisto,
\nhimself a drummer in the late 1960s, commented, \"It is rare that
\na woman plays a percussion instrument in such a skillful way.\"<\/p>\n
For the drummer, Annie Hirschvogl, however, there is nothing
\nspecial about her skills. \"Since I was six, I have played various
\nmusical instruments. At 16, I was asked by my brother to join his
\nband as the drummer because there was no drummer in his band. I
\nstarted playing the drums seriously and took percussion lessons
\nat Vienna's academy of music for about five years.\"<\/p>\n
Hirschvogl, who also teaches percussion, said that it is now
\nquite common for girls in Austria to play the drums. \"The number
\nof girls in my classes is about the same as the number of boys.
\nIn some classes, there are more girls,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The same was also true for the woodwind instruments, added
\ntrumpeter Elisabeth Hujer. She started playing the accordion at
\nthe age of 10 but later fell in love with the trumpet.<\/p>\n
\"We want to show that women, too, can play instruments which
\nhave long been regarded as men's instruments,\" said Dorer, adding
\nthat \"we also want to show that us women can play better than
\nmen.\"<\/p>\n
In some respects, Dorer was right. Dorer conducted Johann
\nStrauss' Tritsch-Tratsch polka faster than Herbert von Karajan.
\nNo wonder. Her idols are Willy Boskowski, one of the most
\nacclaimed and senior conductor in Vienna's New Year Concert, and
\nCarlos Kleiber.<\/p>\n
Dorer, who is also a violin teacher, added that women are
\ngenerally more diligent than men, as was confirmed by her ob
\nservation of the girls and boys in her classes.<\/p>\n
\"I think the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra will have to admit
\nwomen in 20 years,\" she said. That the most celebrated orchestra
\nof Vienna refused to take in women musicians is also a reason why
\nDorer opted for a ladies orchestra rather than a mixed orchestra.<\/p>\n
\"We have lots of great women musicians in Austria. Why should
\nthey (the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra) not accept us?\" Dorer
\nasked. Moreover, she added, there are many ladies orchestras in
\nAustria because \"they are more in demand than mixed orchestras
\nand because ladies often have finer feelings for the waltz.\"<\/p>\n
Dorer took the name \"Waltz Dream\" from an operetta by Oscar
\nStrauss which featured a ladies' orchestra of the same name in
\nits first performance in Vienna in 1907.<\/p>\n
\"The leader of the orchestra was nicknamed Franzi. A man broke
\nher heart,\" she said. Obviously, she says, she does not identify
\nwith Franzi. It is perhaps more suitable to associate her with
\n\"the Vienna Blood,\" a Johann Strauss operetta but also a nickname
\ngiven to singer Antonie Mansfeld. If this moniker was given to
\nMansfeld for her temperament, it should be given to Dorer for her
\nstruggle for equal rights.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ladies-orchestra-mesmereizes-jakartans-1447893297",
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