Ananda, Trisutji redefine classical music

Ananda, Trisutji redefine classical music

By Y. Bintang Prakarsa

JAKARTA (JP): Many classical concerts are not user-friendly,
that is, they often leave the audience in a state of aural
confusion. This is especially true of music from the 20th
century. Without any introductory remarks, the music might sound
unexpected or freakish if performed for an audience trained to
appreciate a narrow repertoire of classical and romantic pieces.

Therefore, you were lucky if you had the chance to listen to a
special recital by pianist Ananda Sukarlan, a rare Indonesian
talent who has succeeded in acquiring international fame and
recognition, at the Erasmus Huis on Tuesday evening.

The program traced the exploration of harmony and melody by
composers from the eighteenth through to the twentieth century,
including the formidable work of J.S. Bach with three selections
from The Well-tempered Clavier, Book One, Ludwig van Beethoven
Op. 27 No. 2 and Dmitri Shostakovich with two pairs of prelude
and fugue from 24 Preludes and Fugues), Inner Mobiles by Jan-Bas
Bollen, who was born in 1961 in the Netherlands, and three pieces
from the still ongoing project of Etudes for Piano by Gyvrgy
Ligeti who was born in 1923.

Ananda introduced each work with a brief speech about how the
composer gave a different treatment of harmony and melody to
their compositions.

Most interesting was the world premiere of Jan-Bas Bollen's
Inner Mobiles, composed in 1999 and dedicated to the pianist, who
collaborated with Ananda when they were at the Royal Conservatory
in The Hague, Netherlands. The idea came from mobiles, the most
popular form of which is a decoration with images of birds, etc.,
connected by strings and rods suspended from the ceiling. The
composition is its analogy in sound.

"I was determined to treat my musical material in a minimal
way rather than letting it develop," the young composer remarked.
"Thus, I kept melodic phrases, rhythmical patterns and chords in
a state of suspension, sounding like mobiles in my inner ear."

The tone production, especially in the second movement, was
inspired by electronic music, to which Bollen, a computer freak,
is very familiar with.

Ananda's achievements are too many to be listed here. The
pianist, who was born in Jakarta in 1968 and now lives in Spain,
graduated "summa cum laude" from the Royal Conservatory in The
Hague, and has won numerous competitions.

As a pianist he is thoroughly familiar with repertoire from
almost every period of keyboard music, but on top of that he is a
lover and promoter of 20th century music, often working closely
with composers. His discography, which includes six CDs on Dutch,
Austrian and Spanish labels, is entirely devoted to 20th century
compositions.

The eminent British composer Sir Michael Tippett praised
Ananda highly for the latter's recording of his First Sonata in
the solo CD The Pentatonic Connection (Erasmus WVH 139): "I was
quite taken aback by the freshness and vitality of the playing.
Mr. Sukarlan's interpretation gave it strength and poetry,
elevating it to a new plane. Technically, his playing was
impeccable and his tone control and variety of color quite
admirable."

This year, the pianist is performing, composing, judging
competitions and lecturing. In July alone, after his concert tour
in Indonesia, he is performing six concerts in New Zealand,
giving lectures at three universities, as well as playing Igor
Stravinsky's Piano Concerto with the Wellington Symphony
Orchestra. From Aug. 8 to Aug. 10 he is back in Jakarta to chair
a team of juries in Piano Competition 2000, organized by Pusat
Kesenian Jakarta (the Jakarta Arts Center) and Asosiasi Komponis
Indonesia.

He is also scheduled to perform charity recitals at Hotel
Mulia in Jakarta on Aug. 1.

Trisutji

Competing with the young artist was the established pianist-
composer Trisutji Kamal, who performed the same evening with her
Trisutji Kamal Ensemble at the Dharmawangsa Hotel. In this
concert they performed Trisutji's work, including the Gunung
Agung, a three-part composition which was inspired by the
explosion of Mount Agung in Bali in the 1960s which took many
lives.

The composer has toured extensively in Europe over the past
few years with her experienced ensemble of two pianists and
Balinese percussion, plus hiring singers when necessary. Their
last tour was in India last April with soprano Binu D. Sukaman,
during which they performed at the World Festival of Sacred
Music, bringing some traditional Balinese Hindu chants and
original compositions by Trisutji inspired by Islamic tradition.

Also featuring a poetry-reading session and an auction of
paintings by Astari Rasyid, the concert was a charity program to
collect donations for the victims of the Bengkulu earthquake, as
well as for supporting the education of poor children, the
distribution of which will be handled by the Suara Ibu Peduli
(the Voice of the Caring Mother).