Batavia madrigal choir does its best

Batavia madrigal choir does its best

By Gus Kairupan

JAKARTA (JP): Time was when in this country the choir singing
scene was largely dominated by church choirs; groups, that is,
who would get top marks for their enthusiasm in praising the
Almighty, but when it comes to the esthetics of music... oh,
boy! That period is over, and today church choirs seem to have
learned a thing or two about the sensitivity of the Lord's
eardrums as well as those of the mortals who are listening. I
tend to think that the ears of the latter are even more
important.

However, this is not a review of church choirs, but choral
singing that has little to do with churches per se, though a lot
of works in that field have a spiritual character. Maybe it could
be termed secular choir singing, which, of course, has always
existed even during the days when what may loosely be described
as the art of music was associated with liturgical stuff, and
music for the masses was confined to street artists while
patricians made do with troubadours.

Anyway, there are quite a number of secular choirs now, some
of the best attached to universities. There are at least two I
know of that have taken part in international meets (in Holland
and Italy, among others) and walked away with top prizes. By no
means a bad track record, that! One of the two was the choir of
Parahyangan Catholic University in Bandung, which in 1995 went to
the Netherlands (the city of Arnhem) and out-sang all other
participating choirs.

However, that wasn't the choir, that performed last week (Aug.
13 and Aug. 14) before a capacity audience at Erasmus Huis, the
cultural center of the Netherlands, but the Batavia Madrigal
Singers, which, though in no way part of Parahyangan University,
does retain a strong relationship because the core members of the
Batavia Madrigal Singers are graduates from Parahyangan
University. They also share the same conductor: Avip Priatna, who
last year returned from Austria with enough educational laurels
to sink the QE2. It was Avip who took the Parahyangan Choir on
its triumphant tour to the Netherlands and Italy a couple of
years ago, and I don't see any reason why he couldn't do the same
for the Batavia Madrigal Singers. Avip is simply the best choir
conductor we have. His major might have been choir conducting,
but he has in the course of his studies also taken orchestral
conducting.

The Batavia Madrigal Singers started as a small group (about
14) about three or four years ago. I can't remember what they
called themselves then, but at that time all members were
Parahyangan University graduates who had settled in Jakarta. BMS
now counts almost 40 members, and under Avip's direction it
occupies the top rung of the choral ladder in this country --
together, I hasten to add, with the Parahyangan kids who haven't
lost one bit of their potential.

Now, how could one rate the performance, billed as Absolute
German Romantic? Well, they deserve top marks for note
perfection, blending, dynamics, what have you. Sure, there were
times that coloring could have been a bit more imaginative like
in Romanze vom Gaensebuben (Robert Schumann), but that is a minor
point. Diction may perhaps need a bit more coaching, among others
with vowels that have an umlaut (those two dots on top of an a, o
or u) not to mention those awful combinations of consonants
that involve "ch" like in schlafen or schreibt. It's not that the
singers couldn't manage the sounds, they could, but there is such
a thing as making it sound natural. I think that the Parahyangan
Choir kids of two to three years ago were a bit better. It
certainly isn't an easy thing but with a bit more intensive
drilling I'm sure BMS will improve. They're not the first ones
having problems with singing in a foreign language. La Stupenda
(Joan Sutherland to you) produced the most beautiful tones and,
deservedly, ranks as one of this century's foremost sopranos.
But her diction! Mamma mia! Musically BMS need not hang its head
in shame because it is a truly excellent choir.

One more thing that may be improved is the program material,
contained in a booklet and another small piece of paper slipped
into it. The book had all the text and translations of the works
to be performed, according to each composer (Brahms, Wolf,
Mendelssohn and Schumann), while the small piece of paper had the
works according to the order they were to be performed. Next
time, please put them all in one program book, presenting first
of all the order of the works stated clearly. Translations can be
added after the evening's program. I noticed some in the audience
were, like me, going backwards and forwards between small piece
of paper and program book. On the whole, however, congratulations
are in order for the Batavia Madrigal Society.