Standing ovation for Van den Hoek<\/p>\n
By Gus Kairupan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): \"Pleasure,\" said Martijn van den Hoek, \"is where
\nyou're not.\" He then sat down facing the 88 white and black keys
\nand did everything to prove himself wrong. I should really say
\nthat \"they\" then sat down, because the event was an evening of
\nmusic from a piano duet -- four hands at one piano, not to be
\nconfused with a piano duo which means four hands at two pianos.
\nThe other two hands that evening belonged to Mieke van den Hoek
\nwho happens to be his wife.<\/p>\n
But what did that spiel about \"pleasure being somewhere where
\nyou're not\" have to do with concerts? It came up in Martijn's
\nexplanations about the pieces to be performed. Now there, I must
\nsay, you have an admirable practice -- a musician talking about
\nthe music and what to listen for, what certain quirks in the
\nphrases and harmonic structure mean, and more of the things that
\nmake the music understandable. It's especially important when
\nyou're listening to program music, which was the type of music
\nthe Van den Hoeks performed that evening. Anyway, what Martijn
\nmeant was, to put it roughly, that your fun is never as much fun
\nas other people's fun.<\/p>\n
Now to the music. The two were to play Brahms' fourth symphony
\n(arranged for a piano duet) but that was scuttled and replacing
\nit were works by Gabriel Faure and Sergei Rachmaninov. I must say
\nthat I wasn't sorry for the change in the program because I'm not
\nquite sure whether the arrangement for piano would have worked
\nsatisfactorily, especially that gorgeous melody for cellos in the
\nslow movement. Besides, the works that replaced the symphony were
\nmore in line with the theme of \"there where you're not.\" You're
\nnot where Schubert's wanderer is (Wanderer Fantasie); you have no
\nidea about the little girl named Dolly who enchanted Faure, and
\nwho was the daughter of a friend of his; you're not among a lot
\nof puppets, one of which is called Petrouchka (Rachmaninov). In
\nshort, you're on your little patch where the grass is less green,
\nor so you think.<\/p>\n
But then Martijn and Mieke appeared, took hold of the 350 or
\nso people in the audience and heaved them (me included) over the
\nfence onto greener pastures. The program started with Schubert's
\nWanderer Fantasie (solo piano) which ranks right among the most
\nmonumental compositions for piano ever written by an 18-year-old
\nyouth. I must admit that at first I harbored some reservations
\nabout the enormous sound Martijn produced since the sound of
\npianos of around 1810 was considerably smaller, more intimate.
\nBut then came the songs that you find in all of Schubert's
\ncompositions, regardless of whether they're for voice or
\ninstruments. Singing is the essence of Schubert's works,
\nand Martijn sang his heart out. The other solo composition,
\nalso played by him, was the arrangement for piano of three
\nexcerpts from Stravinsky's ballet suite Petrouchka, another one
\nof those finger smashing pieces but which Martijn played to
\nperfection. Definitely not easy to follow or to discern the line
\nof direction among the jumble of sounds, had it not been
\nfor the crystal clarity Martijn brought out in his presentation.<\/p>\n
The duets Martijn and Mieke played were by Faure (Dolly
\nSuite), Ravel (Mother Goose Suite) and Rachmaninov titled merely
\nSix Pieces Op. 11. Musically speaking, it is a well-nigh perfect
\nmatch, and they're the second husband and wife team I have ever
\nheard, the other being -- if memory serves me right -- Beatriz
\nand Walter Klien. Please correct me if I'm wrong. There are no
\npianistic fireworks involved in these three suites. Music,
\nanyway, has very little to do with technical wizardry. It's been
\nquite some time since I last heard the Mother Goose Suite in
\nconcert and I must say that Martijn and Mieke's interpretation
\nwas the best so far: the exquisite lullaby in pavane for Sleeping
\nBeauty; you could hear the birds winging away after having
\nfeasted on the bread crumbs Tom Thumb strewed along the path;
\nstrains as fine and delicate as droplets of water suspended from
\na spider's web in Laideronette, Empress of the Pagodas and even
\nthe beast in Conversations Between Beauty and the Beast came
\nthrough as a creature more to be pitied than censured.<\/p>\n
Music with a theme, a story and relating a story through the
\nuse of words is far easier than doing it through tones. And if
\nthe storyteller plays with his voice to make the tale
\ninteresting, so must the musician use whatever means at his
\ndisposal to get the message across, like tone coloring, varying
\nrhythmic patterns, volume levels, and so on. Martijn and Mieke
\nvan den Hoek did so masterfully, and were given a standing
\novation for their efforts. As for \"pleasure being where you're
\nnot\", well, that's where Mr. Van den Hoek went wrong. If only for
\nan hour or two, we were definitely where pleasure was.<\/p>",
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