A long way to go for Midori Orchestra

A long way to go for Midori Orchestra

By Gus Kairupan

JAKARTA (JP): What struck me first of all when I entered the
Mutiara Ballroom of the Gran Melia Jakarta hotel were the bright
red drapes that hung from a height of three meters and ran along
the entire width of the stage at the back and sides of the
orchestra.

The occasion was a concert organized by the Embassy of the
Kingdom of Spain as part of the commemoration of Spain's National
Day. Their national day fell on Oct. 12, while the concert was
held on the evening of Oct. 14.

As a five-star hotel, one does not expect the Mutiara
Ballroom to be less opulent, and it certainly is very luxurious.
It must always be kept in mind, however, that hotel ballrooms are
not exclusively designed for concerts to be held in them.

Of course, this does not mean that you cannot present musical
events in such spaces; you can, and quite satisfactorily too,
provided you take some measures that will help enhance the
projection of sound. Carpeted floors belong in the category of a
nonelectronic musical ensemble's worst enemy, as do scores of
meters of textile. "But it was all right during rehearsals this
morning," an orchestra member said. Sure, but I bet there wasn't
an audience of hundreds present.

The auditorium was marked by an overabundance of sound-
absorbing elements which rather spoiled the evening of classical
music presented by a symphony orchestra.

Inadequate preparation

At any type of concert, except those that feature electronic
instruments, acoustics are an all important aspect. Even so, one
cannot lay the blame for an inadequate presentation at the feet
of bad acoustics. This is especially the case with such staples
of the classical repertoire as El Amor Brujo (Falla), Brahms'
Concerto for Violin & Orchestra, the overture to Verdi's La Forza
del Destino, and Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez,
probably the most famous concerto for guitar and orchestra.

I would say that these would surely be items you would find in
the most basic collection of even a nonchalant admirer of
classical music. What I mean to say is that since these oeuvres
are so well-known one also knows exactly what is happening --
which way melodic lines will go, what harmonic structure is
coming up and in what rhythmic pattern both will appear.

The concert featured the Midori Symphony Orchestra, more
about that later, and three soloists: soprano Katrine Roberts,
violinist IG Bagus Wiswakarma and guitarist Oliver Pletscher.
Allow me to start with them and the compositions in which they
took part.

First of all, soprano Katrine Roberts, who was the soloist in
El Amor Brujo by Spanish composer Manuel de Falla (1876-1946). It
is true that this was the first time the work was performed by an
all-Indonesian ensemble, though it is hardly a debut in this
country.

Falla's work, in the form of a suite without the vocal
sections, was presented almost ten years ago by a symphonic group
comprising youngsters from Indonesia, the UK, Netherlands,
Germany, France and Spain.

Originally, the work featured dances, songs and spoken parts
in the form of what is referred to as a gitaneria, which is
associated with folk music, but later Falla presented a version
for ballet and songs.

Even bearing in mind the acoustical shortcomings, I found the
choice of Katrine Roberts, billed as a soprano, quite out of
place because the vocal sections remained quite firmly within the
mezzo-soprano range.

I'm not blessed with perfect pitch, thank God, but I dare say
that the pieces did not often move higher than G or A above
middle C. With that kind of tessitura it would be awful for a
real soprano, but quite comfortable for a mezzo-soprano or even
contralto. However, her voice has an impressive timbre and I, for
one, look forward to hearing her again in works that really suit
her range.

This was also the first time I heard IG Bagus Wiswakarma
play. His mastery of technique is -- as I have so often heard
before -- indeed faultless, even brilliant. Hats off for that,
but personally, I look askance at soloists who read from the
score. Brahms' violin concerto is such a well-known work that you
know exactly what is coming, what to expect.

One would, for instance, think something like here comes an
accelerando or perhaps here's the climax of the
recapitulation, and so forth. That was exactly how my thoughts
went, but what it boils down to is that you hear exactly what is
actually written in the score; in other words, there was nothing
that showed the performer made the composition his own or stamped
it with his personality. Bagus deserves an A but only for
technique and brilliant reading.

In a way, this applies also to Oliver Pletscher whose
performance of Rodrigo's most famous work ought to have been
given a more upbeat tempo in the outer movements.

I am sure that compared to the orchestra Pletscher would
certainly be more knowledgeable about the characteristics of
Spanish music and that he could have forced the orchestra to
dance to his tune -- that's what soloists need to do when playing
with an Indonesian orchestra. They must know the works they play
from soup to nuts and back because they have to take over the
lead of the entire process.

The Orchestra

This brings us to the orchestra and its conductor, Yudianto
Hinupurwadi. I have said often during 16 years of commenting on
classical music and I will say it again that Indonesian
conductors are inadequately prepared in education, training,
experience, intellectual breadth or even a range of musical
knowledge to adopt the title.

When the orchestra started, the first item on the program,
Falla, I took notice of the general tone color of each
instrumental section (strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion) and
thought all right ... this is what Yudianto wants the tone to be
like. Not that I liked it, but let's put that aside.

What should not have happened though, was that he also stuck
to that tonal character throughout the whole program. I found
this irresponsible because you must not apply the tonal
characters you used in Falla to a work by Brahms. Or Verdi. Or
even Rodrigo who hails from the same country as Falla. But then,
the matter of tone coloring, except for playing loud and soft, is
one thing that an Indonesian conductor has not mastered. The
result? Flat performances of orchestral music.

The concert at the Gran Melia was the second for the Midori
Symphony Orchestra. The group was born only this year and rests
under the aegis of the Midori International Music Foundation,
which was also founded this year.

Actually, a school of music under the Midori name has been
operating for 15 years, but apparently 1999 is the first year
that the institution presented the results of its labors --
provided, of course, that among its students there are those who
take part in the orchestra.

The orchestra includes quite a number of musicians who have
performed regularly in other orchestras such as the Nusantara
Symphony Orchestra and the Twilight Orchestra.

Midori still has a long way to go, and I hope that it
succeeds in achieving the goals it has set for itself. At the
same time, it must avoid the fate that has befallen at least
three symphonic groups during the past 15 years: the Jakarta
Symphony Orchestra, Nusantara Symphony Orchestra, which was last
heard of in the beginning of this year and the Twilight
Orchestra, now reduced to a string group called the Twilight
Ensemble.

Foundations were established for these groups but at one point
support ceased, which spelled the end of the orchestras'
activities. It isn't at all difficult to figure out why, and
Midori would do well to do just that if it does not want to fall
in the same trap. The Midori foundation should at least be aware
that there is a pattern here -- and a glaring one it is!

One last word of advice to the Gran Melia. Next time, please
do not wrap classical music events in yards and yards of textile,
unless, of course, you plan to present performances that feature
hard and/or metal rock groups.