Franki Raden's review

Franki Raden's review of the latest concert by the Nusantara Chamber Orchestra (The Jakarta Post, April 27) covers the event well enough, but his opinion on classical piano playing in Indonesia compels me to respond.

The use of the word "international" in his qualification of pianists is apparently not based on objective criteria. It is not enough for a pianist to have played in some foreign countries to be qualified as "international".

I think an international pianist is a musician who performs in the world concert circuit at fairly regular intervals, who commands a reasonably wide repertoire or whose playing is of exceptional quality. To play in what hall, in what city, on what occasion, for what audience, may be some additional criteria to assess a pianist's capabilities. If this is something to go by I am not sure whether we have as yet international-caliber pianists among us.

However, as Franki Raden says, Iravati Sudiarso-Rudi Laban- Sutarno Sutikno and Oerip Santoso-Kuei-Pin Yeo-Yazeed Djamin are inspired educators in piano playing. These pianists used to appear in public but played increasingly less with the passing of time because they became deeper involved in teaching. People cannot expect that concert pianists take on many pupils, inversely piano teachers cannot be expected to perform regularly in public. The more important aspect of musical life is the maintenance of a good level of music education. And that is currently in good hands.

Now, about Myrna Setiawan. As Franki Raden writes, she showed admirable consistency and accuracy. She displayed the whole range of shadings from pianissimo to fortissimo in good tempo. She really was a powerhouse of skillful piano playing. But that is not enough to elicit the sensations one usually feels with Tchaikovsky's music. This Slavic composer has created music that speaks to the heart rather than to the head. It was this lyricism that was not apparent in Myrna's rendering of Tchaikovsky's warhorse, the B-flat minor Piano Concerto.

If Myrna Setiawan has the potential to become international, I think she would do well to spend a few years in a music center in Middle or Eastern Europe where she can absorb the local music culture, rather than in the U.S. only. After all it is in Europe that one finds the origins of Western classical music. She will become a complete musician when she will have discovered the more profound aspects of music beyond mere virtuosic notes.

S. HARMONO

Jakarta