Great minds think alike for pianist Iswargia

By Y. Bintang Prakarsa

JAKARTA (JP): Anything can happen in experimental arts. One evening last year at Teater Utan Kayu, the Jakarta arts venue associated rightly or wrongly with artistic tryouts, performance art faded in and out of a performing art.

On stage, negotiating a new work by a Yogyakarta composer, pianist Iswargia R. Sudarno stopped playing now and then and did something totally nonmusical (taking off his jacket etc.) as required by the score.

Performing new music is often a chancy affair, but he nevertheless loves it.

He even takes it as his personal duty, a responsibility for musical progress. For, he argues, if no one plays new compositions the music will not develop further.

"Honestly, not all works that I've played were good. You name it -- 'new music' -- so it could be good, could be bad ... the thing is that you must try it first to know," he said.

But he does not play things indiscriminately. The composition should be creative, but at the same time it should have a clearly defined concept, not just a bunch of sensation-seeking instructions.

This careful and judicious attitude toward repertory is characteristic of Iswargia, one of the not so many thinking musicians around Jakarta, who divides his time between Jakarta and Bandung to perform and teach.

Born in Bandung 37 years ago, the pianist has been nurtured by prominent teachers both in and outside the country. His experience at the Manhattan School of Music in New York was perhaps the most crucial in opening his perspective.

Ever since his study there, Iswargia, who never used his degree in architecture (from the prestigious ITB!) for a living, has experienced new music as a regular part of a musician's life.

"I began to love new music when I was in New York, where performing new music wasn't the fashion anymore. Many liked it, many hated it, too. Mr. Schnabel had greatly, if indirectly, 'provoked' me in many things, including in this aspect. He is a great artist. I like his musical concept."

The Schnabel he is talking about is Karl Ulrich, the son of the great Artur Schnabel (1882-1951). Iswargia was impressed by Karl's vitality, even when he was already 82. Now, a decade later, he is still listed on the school's website as a member of the piano faculty, and two years ago Iswargia heard that he still gave recitals.

The concept has a genealogy that stretches back to Karl's father. As a pianist he steered clear of the widespread worship of virtuosity around the turn of the century and concentrated on Beethoven, Schubert and Mozart.

Born in Austria he was not only a performer, but also a teacher and scholar, even a composer much influenced by his fellow musician and compatriot Schoenberg (who else?).

Testimonies of his performances, recordings, Beethoven sonata edition and writings identify him as a thoughtful, discerning musician. His pupils included Karl, a distinguished pianist and teacher in his own right, who was also his assistant for some time and played duos with his father.

Guardian

Not surprisingly, Karl -- now regarded as the guardian of his father's legacy of Beethoven interpretation -- has a similar disposition.

Iswargia finds that his teacher regarded composer's intentions very highly. A careful, meticulous reading of a score is a must. This "modern" attitude contrasts with the "romantic" attitude that put the performer's "personality" first -- an elegant guise to say that I want to do anything I like. His intuition reigning, the pianist tampers with tempo, rhythm, dynamics, chords, etc.

"Well, if there wasn't anything like this life would be dull," he quips. "But anyway, I don't agree with it. You can express yourself freely but art always has guidelines or a sense of order. A groundless performance would be ... chaotic. Personality -- if you really have it -- would eventually come out without having to force it out."

Iswargia learned his lesson very well. He considers study an integral part of his musicianship. Many of his recital projects betray well-thought-out designs, whether he is on the performing side or the organizing side, or both. Designing a program is a whole work as important as the performance itself, for -- to some extent at least -- the audience's enjoyment depends on the program's coherence and the appeal of the works.

To see more closely how he deals with specific projects let us take an example from the acclaimed Art Song Series, produced out of his desire to have concerts not as mere happenings that come and go, but as art events organized on a permanent basis. The idea was to set up subscription concerts as conducted in developed countries, and the choice was the art songs series because of the resources currently available.

He considered first the singer's personality and vocal characteristics. Then he asked whether she or he liked to sing a certain repertory, to which he proposed complementary songs to make an interesting program. If the singer had no preference, he then suggested his own program.

Iswargia uses different approaches for different programs. The theme of the first recital of the series, in which he performed with soprano Binu D. Sukaman last September, was songs with texts by Goethe.

He began by surveying the art song repertory to find which are the most popular poems and who are the composers who write most often for those texts. For the first half of the program, he picked Schumann's and Wolf's setting of the poems from the Wilhelm Meister cycle. For the rest of the program he selected short poems set by contrasting Webern and Schubert. Schubert was chosen to close the whole program because he is the composer who sets Goethe most prolifically.

For his love of well-crafted musical construction, Beethoven and Schumann occupy a prominent part in his heart. Not that he dislikes other composers, but the reason for his special love of Beethoven and Schumann is that for him they were progressives with strong personalities.

Iswargia does not really believe in originality. He prefers to base his appreciation on the composers's consistency in developing their craft. All the details they work out are part of the grand endeavor to clarify the structural concepts.

"Consequently performing their compositions is challenging, because we have to be careful to learn as much as we can about their intentions. See how Beethoven treats motifs. It's astonishing!"

So, Iswargia, if they are so richly creative, why do many pianists here seem not to enjoy Schumann -- or Beethoven?

"Well, I don't know. My pupils obviously do, and also Perahia, Brendel, Pollini, Uchida, Richard Goode."

And where did his love come from? No answer. Perhaps we should ask Karl, or even Artur Schnabel.