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.