Dualism marks the 1994 classical music scene

Dualism marks the 1994 classical music scene

Gus Kairupan

JAKARTA (JP): There's day and there's night, two sides to a
coin, positive and negative, up and down. And that's what marks
the classical music scene in Indonesia, or, to be more precise,
Jakarta -- the center of everything that counts in this country.
But come to think of it, describing the scene as up-down,
positive-negative, etc. isn't quite right because there hasn't
been much of a change, in say, the past three years or so.
Though this year there were some good individual performances,
orchestral music wasn't much to write home about.

First, the individuals. There have been memorable
performances, like the piano duo recital (two pianos, two
players) by mother and daughter team Iravati and Aisha Sudiarso
last August. This was an event of professional standards that,
as I said then, would do very well if taken on a tour not only in
Indonesia but overseas. Music for piano is of course Indonesia's
greatest strength although, except for the duo, there have been
very few others who have given proof of their capabilities in
front of an audience. Of those who did, Adelaide Simbolon merits
a mention for the marvelous work she did when she accompanied
Polish violinist, Bartolomiej Niziol last June.

Recently, Linny Sugianto and Iswargia Sudarno performed in a
recital of music for piano duet (one piano, two players) and
though their performance somewhat lacked musical maturity the
event had every indication of good promise because the technique
was there.

Of non-piano events, Eric Awuy, Indonesia's sole classical
trumpeter, performed at The Stage Restaurant in what would most
likely have been the first ever solo recital of classical music
for trumpet. He was accompanied by pianist Ary Sutedja who has
earned degrees in the U.S. and Russia.

Another event I can think of with pleasure is a recital of
choral music featuring the choir of Bandung's Parahyangan
University -- surely the best we have -- conducted by Avip
Priatna, the only Indonesian musician I know of who has taken up
conducting as his major field of study. Avip has been in Austria
for the past three years or so, pursuing both choir and orchestra
conducting, and has already obtained his baccalaureate degree,
with distinction. He is, perhaps, the only hope we have for
someone who will be able to whip into shape whatever orchestra we
have in this country. It only remains for the tunnel-visioned
organizers here to wake up to the fact that present conductors
are wanting, and to summon up the nerve to undertake a complete
overhaul. It would be a shame if someone like Avip Priatna, with
his enormous talent for conducting, decided to remain abroad
where he would be more appreciated. One conductor has already
done so: conductor Yahya Ling, presently attached to the
Cleveland Symphony Orchestra in the United States.

There is another conductor who may yet develop into a very
capable orchestra leader, i.e. Addie M.S. of the Twilite
Orchestra, whose recent performance some weeks ago was the first
one I attended. I must say that Addie M.S., for all his lack of
formal studies, communicates far better with the orchestra
members than Yazeed Djamin of the Nusantara Chamber Orchestra and
Yudianto Hinupurwadi of the Jakarta Symphony Orchestra. Another
plus in Addie's favor is that he seems to derive pleasure from
what he is doing, which cannot be said for the other two. The
Twilite Orchestra has apparently chosen to concentrate on light
classics and popular music a la Arthur Fiedler and the Boston
Pops, which is fine.
.RM 68

But, heavy classics or light classic/popular, the demands for the
conductor remains the same, and Addie M.S. would do well by taking
up formal studies for a couple of years. One other thing the Twilite
Orchestra (and Addie M.S. too, of course) should look into is
performing without amplification. For an orchestra the size of the
Twilite Orchestra it is totally unnecessary and besides may pose a
danger of the conductor getting dependent on electronically produced
sounds rather than natural ones. Amplification is not altogether
taboo, but it should be applied with care to enhance the natural
sound rather than blowing it up. Besides which the technician in
charge should be sitting at the panel with the full score in front
of him.

As regards the Jakarta Symphony Orchestra, it still seems to be
suffering birth pangs. Or rather re-birth pangs because this group
has, over the years, gone through a series of oblivion and
renaissance. One concert planned for last November was canceled for
lack of funds, I was told. This does not bode well for the group
that was re-inaugurated with such fanfare last year when a host of
some of Jakarta's most prominent individuals and business-men signed
its second (or third, fourth, whatever) birth certificate. Hopes
were great because the Jakarta Symphony Orchestra, as a government
organization within the Ministry of Information -- and, as such,
amounting to less than zero -- had been taken over by private hands,
would be better run, or so many people thought. So far, improvement
has been scant.

The group which is still called the Nusantara Chamber Orchestra
is the only orchestra still performing regularly. It is well into
its sixth year now, but musically, the Nusantara Chamber Orchestra
reached the peak of its abilities about three years ago. Music of
the classical period does not fare too badly at the hands of Yazeed
Djamin but he appears to be out of his league with anything
following afterwards. The problems with wind and brass sections
seems to have become chronic, and with the constant change of
personnel (NCO has had a quite noticeable turnover of players),
there is no immediate progress in sight. One wonders about the
attitude on the part of the players as well as the conductor vis-a-
vis the work they are doing, but here is one instance that may serve
as an indication. At a performance earlier this year, I felt it
necessary to call on the orchestra's manager to tell the members to
tune their instruments properly. No one can tell what the orchestra
will be like in the near future, but don't expect any renditions of
the works of Wagner, Brahms, Mahler, Bartok, Strauss (Richard),
Prokofiev, Shostakovich, etc. any time soon.

The above does not present an inspiring picture of classical
music activities in Jakarta. And things aren't made any better by an
announcer of a private TV company who told an audience of millions
in the Nuansa Pagi news program that classical music makes him
sleepy (he was referring to the concert of the Wanderer Trio of
France).

All the same, there are glimmers of hope particularly where
education is concerned. The School of Music (Yayasan Pendidikan
Musik), whose annual crop of graduates include quite a few who
receive scholarships to study abroad, will, in a short time move
from its ramshackle quarters in Manggarai to a brand new and proper
building for music education located in Bintaro.

There's also the six-month-old group called The Circle, a very
loose, non-commercial and non-political gathering of Indonesians and
expatriates that concentrates on anything in the creative fields,
including music. It has so far presented about half a dozen
admission-free musical events, including one music workshop for
children. The Circle is planning a series of such workshops to be
presented in schools for a reason that couldn't be simpler: future
audiences are to be found among children.